LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF 
WISCONSIN 

(1894-1904) 
By  Albert  0.  Barton 

With  an  Introduction  by  Hon.  Louis  D.  Brandeis 

At  the  Birthplace  of  a  Great  American. — (R.  M.  LaF.) 

What  a  tradition  will  your  high  name  be, 
When  the  contending  years  their  rage  have  spent! 
Here  shall  men  come  with  wondering  sons  in  hand, 
And  pause  the'  while  in  wistful  r every, 
Saying:     "Here  sprang  a  man,  by  Nature  sent 
Forth  triple-armed  with  flame,  high  heart  and  zeal, 
To  front   the   later  dragons  of  our  land, 
Whom  others  fed,  nor  dared  to  meet  with  steel. ' ' 

Tour  place  on  History 's  page  not  ours  to  tell, 

Nor  yet  our  children's;  centuries  long  may  pass, 

Ere  the  impartial  muse  her  oracle 

Shall  summon;  so  the  recurring  grass 

Greens  where  old  Israel's  thunderers  long  slept, 

Scorned  still  their  race,  their  truths  none  but  accept. 

—A.  0.  B. 


Illustrated 


MADISON,  WIS. 
1922. 


Copyright,    1922,   by 

ALBERT  O.  BARTON. 

All  Rights  Reserved. 


THE  HOMESTEAD  COMPANY 

DBS  MOINES,  IOWA 

1922. 


Not  Without  Some  Prejudice  and  Errors, 
Perhaps,  but  Designed  Sincerely  with  a 
View  to  Truth  and  Fairness,  This  Work — 
Written  Little  by  Little,  on  the  Shores  of 
Both  Oceans,  in  Many  Cities  and  Places — 
and  Under  Greatly  Varying  Circumstances 
— Is  Submitted  to  Those  Who  May  Be  In 
terested  in  Learning  Something  of  the  More 
Intimate  Incidental  Aspects,  the  Passions, 
Prejudices  and  Practices  of  an  Interesting 
and  Significant  Transitionary  Period  in  the 
History  of  a  Great  State. 


M62172 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  REPUBLICAN  INSURGENT  MOVEMENT  IN  CONGRESS. 
LaFollette's  First  Formal  Speech  in  United  States  Senate 
Creates  Significant  Occasion — An  Historic  Warning — Growing 
Unrest  in  Congress — Progressive  Movement  Organized  at  LaFol- 
lette  Home — Roosevelt  Candidacy  Splits  Progressive  Element  in 
Party. 

CHAPTER  II. 

GRANGER  LEGISLATION  IN  WISCONSIN. 

Exploitation  of  Resources  of  State — Railroad  and  Lumber  In 
terests  Active  in  Politics— Potter  Law  First  Strong  Attempt  at 
Railroad  Regulation— Governor  Taylor 's  Great  Fight— Celebrated 
Court  Decision— Potter  Law  Repealed  and  Railroads  Regain  Power. 

CHAPTER  III. 

LAFOLLETTE-SAWYER   INCIDENT. 

Sensational  Break  Destined  to  Have  Important  Later  Results — 
Statem.pji.ts  of  Sawyer  and  L^FoILeite  as  to  the  Cause  of  the 
Trouble. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  HAUGEN  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR. 

LaFollette  Organizes  Revolt  Against.  Old  Partj_  Leaders — Re 
veals  Astonishing  Organizing  Capacity— First  Big  ClasY  of  Re 
publican  Factions — Upham  Nominated — New  Leader  Attracts 
Marked  Attention. 

• 

CHAPTER  V. 

LAFOLLETTE  '&  FIRST  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR. 
Another  Sharp  Campaign— Hoard   Disclaims   Understanding  or 
Deal  at  Convention— Bribery  of  Delegates  Charged— Scofield  Nom 
inated. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

' '  MENACE-OF-THE-MACHINE  ' '   SPEECH. 

Significant  Year  in  LaFollette  Movement — Future  Governor 
Fore  shadows  Crusade  in  Chicago  Address — Proposes  Primary 
Elections — Fern  Dell  Speech — Begins  Speaking  at  County  Fairs — 
Press  Greatly  Interested  in  Crusade  and  Its  Purpose. 

CHAPTER  V1L 

ALBERT  R.  HALL  AND  His  WORK. 

A  Strong,  Heroic  Character — His  Long  Fight  for  Anti-Pass  and 
Railroad  Tax  Legislation — The  Pass  and  Its  Evils — Significant 
Referendum  Vote  on  Railroad  Legislation. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
CAMPAIGN  OF  1898. 

LaFollette  Again  a  Candidate  to  Keep  Principles  Alive — A.  R. 
Hall  Attacks  Scofield — Governor's  Cow  Becomes  Famous — Stirring 
Convention  Battle. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  MILWAUKEE  MOVEMENT. 

Important  Moral  and  Financial  Aid  Given  Reform  Cause — Re 
publican  Club  of  Milwaukee  County  Formed — C.  F.  P.  Pullen 
Gives  History — Baumgartner  and  His  Work. 

CHAPTER  X. 
CONVENTION  OF  1898. 

LaFollette  Enters  as  Candidate  at  Late  Hour — Rumors  of 
' '  Dark  Horse  "  to  be  Entered — Stirring  Convention  Scenes — Sco 
field  Renominated — Platform  Shows  Progressive  Advance. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

LAFOLLETTE 's  FIRST  NOMINATION  AND  ELECTION. 
Many  Candidates  in  Field — Important  Dual  Victory  of  LaFol 
lette  Foreshadows  His  Nomination — Opposing  Candidates  Rapidly 
Withdraw — Spooner  Announces  His  Determination  to  Quit  Senate 
— Unanimous  Nomination  of  LaFollette — Remarkable  Speaking 
Tour  and  Great  Enthusiasm  for  Candidate. 

CHAPTER  XII.  . 

STIRRING  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OK  1901. 

LaFollette  Reads  Message  to  Legislature — Demands  Primary 
Election  Legislation  and  Advalorem  Taxation  of  Railroads — Great 


Battle  Over  Primary  Elections — Memorable  Night  Session — Gov 
ernor's  Measures  Defeated — Senate  Adopts  Resolutions  of 
Censure. 

CHAPTER  Kill. 

THE  REPUBLICAN  LEAGUE  AND  ITS  ACTIVITIES. 
New  Organization  Formed  for  Defeat  of  LaFollette — Headquar 
ters  Established  in  Hermann  Building,  Milwaukee — Big  Chain  of 
Newspapers  Subsidized  and  Served  from  League  Office — Purchase 
of  Press  Exposed  by  Henry  E.  Roethe  and  John  J.  Hannan — Gov 
ernor  Becomes  Dangerously  111 — Declares  Fight  Must  Go  On. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
GREAT  CONTEST  OF  1902. 

Early  Speech  by  LaFollette  Before  Farmers'  Institute  Shows 
Determination  to  Achieve  Primary  Reform — Stalwarts  Complicate 
Issue  by  Cry  of  "Return  Spooner" — Whitehead  Brought  Out  to 
Oppose  LaFollette — Great  Activity  of  Stalwart  League — Adminis 
tration  Achieves  Coup  by  Having  Convention  Set  for  Madison — 
LaFollette  Renominated — Convention  Incidents — Qualified  En 
dorsement  of  Spooiier — Voter 's  Handbook  a  Notable  Pamphlet. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

REACTIONARY  POLICY  OF  DEMOCRATS. 

Convention  Dominated  by  Corporation  Influences — Dave  Rose 
Nominated — Bryan  Denounces  Party  State  Platform — Bryan  V 
Further  Attitude  Toward  Wisconsin  Reform  Movement — Many 
Leading  Democrats  Silent — LaFollette__JVIakea  Great  Opening 
Speech  at  Milwaukee — Stirring  Campaign  of  Many  Incidents — 
"Ea±'oiletfe  Meets  "Spooner  Issue — LaFollette  Re-elected — Demo 
cratic  Defection  Estimated  at  30,000. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

SENSATIONAL  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1903. 
Three  Special  Messages  of  Governor  on  Railroad  Legislation — • 
Lenroot  Elected  Speaker  of  Assembly — Fight  for  Primary  Elec 
tions  Renewed — Congressman  Babcock  Comes  to  Direct  Stalwart 
Forces — Governor  Vetoes  Hagemeister  Bill  With  Stinging  Message 
—Primary  Bill  With  Referendum  Feature  Finally  Passed— Stal 
wart  Plan  to  Defeat  it  at  Polls— Railroad  Ad  Valorem  Bill 
Passed. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

RAILROAD  COMMISSION  BILL. 

Becomes  New  Issue — Last  Big  Legislative  Battle  of  LaFollette 
Regime — Spirited  Committee  Hearings — Governor  Submits  Long 


Special  Message — Great  Gathering  of  Shippers  Appears  in  Pro 
test—Brilliant  Night  Debate — Measure  Killed — Railroad  "Red 
Line ' '  Incident — Great  Power  of  Lobby  Shown. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903. 

Re-election  of  Senator  Spooner — President  Roosevelt  Visits 
Capitol — A  Period  of  Teeming  Activity — Wai  worth  County  Poli 
tics  Reviewed. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
READING  OF  FREIGHT  RATES. 

Governor  Early  in  Lecture  Field  After  Session — Creates  Sen 
sation  by  Charging  Bribery  in  Session  of  1901 — Sounds  First 
' '  High-Cost-of -Living ' '  Note  in  Labor  Day  Address — Another 
County  Fair  Campaign — Substitutes  Rending  of  Freight  Rates  for 
Roll  Call. 

CHAPTER  XX. 
THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904. 

Annus  Mirabilis  in  State  History — Campaign  That  Determined 
Issue  of  Popular  Government  in  Wisconsin — ' i  LaFolletteism ' ' 
Q.veraliadQW.8..All _Other  Questions — Stalwart  Lack  of  Leadership — 
Baensch  Announces  Candidacy — Early  Incidents  of  Year — Barber- 
"Sturtevant  Letters — Burning  of  Capitol — Administration  Seeks 
Defeat  of  Congressman  Babcock — Significant  Supreme  Court  Elec 
tion. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
THE  " PRESS  GANG." 

Something  of  the  Part  it  Played  in  Big  Political  Game — "Bill" 
Powell  and  Others  Described — W.  D.  Connor  Enters  Upon  Political 
Stage— Elected  State  Chairman— Breaks  With  LaFollette  Over 
United  States  Senatorship. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
PRE-CONVENTION  CONTESTS. 

Governor  Sounds  'Keynote  of  Campaign  in  Milton  Junction 
Grange  Speech — Defends  Grange  Legislation — Exciting  Caucus 
Campaign  Opens — Vote  in  Dane  County  Exceeds  That  in  General 
Election — Many  Contests  in  Counties — Indications  Stalwarts  De 
termined  on  Desperate  Course. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
THE  OPERA  HOUSE  CAUCUS. 

Rumors  of  Possible  Rioting — "Extraordinary  Precautions  Taken 
— Great  Excitement  in  Madison — Stalwarts  Hold  ' '  Caucus ' '  Meet 
ing  in  Opera  House — Fiery  Speech  by  M.  G.  Jeffris — Stalwarts 
March  to  Gymnasium — Must  Run  Gauntlet  of  Guards — Incidents 
of  Opening  of  Convention. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
GYMNASIUM  CONVENTION. 

Intense  Interest  Ta~ken  in  Proceedings — Tears  of  Outbreak  at 
Opening — Stalwart  Leader  Jeffris  Overruled — Great  Demonstra 
tion  at  Chairman  Lenroot's  Mention  of  LaFollette's  Name — The 
Rosenberry  Incident — First  Test  Vote  Gives  Administration  Ma 
jority — Stalwart  Leaders  Protest  and  Cook  Pleads  for  Party 
Peace — Jeffris  Leads  Bolt  of  Baensch  Delegates  from  Hall — Cook 
Delegates  Remain. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
THE  OPERA  HOUSE  CONVENTION. 

Floor  Leader  Jeffris  Again  Attacks  Administration — Convention 
Opens  Amid  Great  Enthusiasm — Baensch  Withdraws  and  Cook 
Placed  in  Nomination — ' '  Big  Guns ' '  of  Party  Heard — Ovation 
for  Spooner. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
GYMNASIUM  CONVENTION  CONCLUDED. 

LaFollette  and  Other  State  Officers  Renominated — Interesting 
Incident  in  Connection  With  Governor's  Acceptance — Aggressive 
Campaign  Urged — Observations  on  Defections  from  LaFollette. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
BEFORE  THE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION. 

Rival  Factions  Appeal  to  "National  Committee — LaFollette  Dele 
gation  Visits  Roosevelt — Receives  No  Encouragement — Committee 
Decides  for  Stalwarts — Premature  Announcement  by  Committee  on 
Credentials — LaFollette  Delegation  Leaves  Chicago — Stalwarts 
Seated — Incidents  of  Summer — Removal  of  State  Treasurer 
Kempf — Democrats  Again  Adopt  Reactionary  Platform — Peck  for 
Governor. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  SUPREME  COURT  DECISION. 
Stalwarts  Appear  Before  Tribunal — Demand  Republican  Column 


on  Ballot — Attorneys  in  Big  Legal  Controversy — Court  Sustains 
State  Central  Committee — Cook  Withdraws — Stalwarts  Demoral 
ized. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

INCIDENTS  IN  PROGRESS  OF  CAMPAIGN. 

Lincoln  Steffens  Visits  Madison — Vindicates  Course  of  Admin 
istration — Governor  in  ^Strenuous  Campaign — Typical.  Hard  -£>.ay 
m  Northern  Wisconsin. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
RIVAL  FACTIONS  IN  THE  FIELD. 

Sharp  Campaign  Pressed  by  Both  Sides — LaFollette  Adopts 
Automobile  Plan  of  Travel — Cook  Withdraws  from  Ticket  and 
Scofield  Substituted — Incidents  of  Fast  and  Furious  Finish. 

CHAPTER  XXXL 
A  FATEFUL  ELECTION. 

Intense  Interest  Taken  in  Outcome  of  Campaign — National  Is 
sues  Forgotten — Stalwarts  Throw  Support  to  Peck — LaFollette 
and  A.  R.  Hall  Speak  at  Milwaukee— LaFollette  Re-elected— Re 
ceives  Flood  of  Congratulations — Significance  of  Election — La 
Follette  's  Long  Contest  Finally  WoiiT' 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

R.    M.    LAFOLLETTE    AS    GOVERNOR,    1904,     (FRONTISPIECE)....       12 

JOHN  J.  BLAINE ^ 

HERMAN  L.  EKERN j        Insert 

R.  M.  LAFOLLETTE  AS  UNITED  STATES  SENATOR,  1914  |    Between 

MRS.   R.    M.   LAFOLLETTE j'       Pages 

CONSTRUCTIVE  MEN  OF  LAFOLLETTE  ADMINISTRATIONS         16  *  17 

(GROUP)    j 

LAFOLLETTE  FARM   HOME,   MAPLE   BLUFF    92 

MILWAUKEE  CAUCUS  TICKET,  1898 121 

SCENE,  LAFOLLETTE  FARM,  MADISON 132 

HOME  OF  R.  M.  LAFOLLETTE  WHEN  NOMINATED  FOR  GOVER 
NOR,  WILSON  STREET,  MADISON 164 

WISCONSIN  STATE  OFFICERS,   1903-07 195 

A  FAMOUS  LAFOLLETTE  CARTOON 199 

CARTOON,  1902,  SHOWING  OLD  CAPITOL 205 

MRS.  LAFOLLETTE  AS  CAMPAIGNER 245 

OLD  ASSEMBLY  CHAMBER,  MADISON 247 

PROMINENT  FIGURES  IN  CAMPAIGN,  1904  (GROUP) 293 

SUPPRESSED  POLITICAL  CARTOON 307 

MRS.  LAFOLLETTE  SPEAKING  TO  FARMERS 333 

REPUBLICAN  CAUCUS  MAP,  1904 357 

BIRTHPLACE  OF  R.  M.  LAFOLLETTE,  PRIMROSE,  Wis..  .* 36<> 

REPUBLICAN  CONVENTION  TICKET,  1904 371 

UNIVERSITY  OF  WISCONSIN,  GYMNASIUM 373 

CARTOON  OF  GYMNASIUM  CONVENTION 375 

H.  A.  HUBER 378 

FACSIMILE  OF  CONVENTION  EXTRA 389 

MAP  SHOWING  ELECTION  RESULTS,  1904 447 

JOEL  BRITTS,  PRIMROSE  PIONEER 471 

SCENE,  OLD  LAFOLLETTE  FARM,  PRIMROSE..  472 


ROBERT  M.  LAFOLLETTE 
As  Governor  of  Wisconsin,  1904 


FOREWORD 


The  work  herewith  published  was  practically  com 
pleted  in  1914.  It  was  not  written  primarily  for  publi 
cation,  but  rather  with  a  view  to  reflecting  the  spirit  and 
preserving  many  illuminating  incidents  of  the  contro 
versial  period  covered  while  yet  they  were  vivid  in  the 
writer's  memory.  At  the  time  it  was  undertaken  the 
progressive  movement  gave  promise  of  developing  into  a 
stable  political  organization  with  great  possibilities  in 
the  way  of  legislation,  and  a  corresponding  influence  011 
national  policies,  as  set  forth  in  the  opening  chapter. 
The  great  bulk  of  the  remainder  of  the  work  was  de 
signed  to  aid  the  general  student  of  politics  who  might 
be  interested  in  learning  how  the  experience  and  equip 
ment  which  Senator  LaFollette  brought  to  its  leader 
ship  were  acquired. 

As  the  present,  political  situation  in  the  nation  is 
strongly  reminiscent  of  that  existing  a  decade  ago,  the 
work  may  perhaps  not  inappropriately  be  now  given  \o 
the  light.  It  may  perhaps  be  unnecessary  to  state  that 
the  writer  is  entirely  responsible  for  what  it  purports  to 
present,  and  that  Senator  LaFollette  has  in  no  way  had 
any  hand  in  its  preparation,  nor  read  any  of  its  copy. 

A.  0.  B. 


INTRODUCTORY 


Lovers  of  American  liberty  are  full  of  hope ;  but  the 
period  of  boyish  exuberance  has  been  followed  by  one 
of  maturer  consideration  of  the  grave  problems  of  democ 
racy.  The  need  of  solving  these  problems  is  urgent.  The 
inherent  difficulties  are  great.  There  is  insistent  demand 
for  political  and  social  invention.  The  best  conceived 
plans  for  the  amelioration  of  our  conditions  will  require 
for  success  laborious  development  of  details,  careful  ad 
justment  to  local  conditions,  and  great  watchfulness  for 
years  after  their  introduction.  We  must  encourage  such 
social  and  political  invention,  though  we  feel  sure  that 
the  successes  will  be  few  and  the  failures  many.  Most 
of  these  inventions  can  be  applied  only  with  the  sanction 
and  aid  of  the  government.  It  is  America's  good  for 
tune  that  her  federal  system  furnishes  in  the  forty-eight 
states  political  and  social  laboratories  in  which  these  in 
ventions  may  be  separately  worked  out  and  tested,  thus 
multiplying  the  opportunities  for  inventors  and  mini 
mizing  the  dangers  of  failure. 

In  this  new  field  of  applied  political  and  social  science, 
Wisconsin,  under  the  leadership,  and  largely  owing  to 
the  inspiration  of  Robert  M.  LaFollette,  has  occupied 
the  first  place.  Mr.  Barton  performs  an  important  pub 
lic  service  in  recording  the  history  of  the  Wisconsin 
struggle  for  progress  and  thus  helping  others  to  under 
stand  the  lofty  strivings,  the  courage  and  patience  of 
those  to  whom  her  primacy  is  largely  due. 

Louis  D.  BRANDEIS. 
Boston,  Mass.,  July  28,  1914. 


JOHN  J.  ELAINE 
State    Senator    (1909-1913) 
Early   Progressive   Leader 


HERMAN  L.  EKERN 
Assembly  leader  and  speak 
er.     Leader   in    Insurance   Leg 
islation. 


11OHEUT    M.    LAFOLLETTE,    1914 


Photo  L.   C.    Robinson 

MRS.   ROBERT   M.   LAFOLLETTE 
"Through  her  his  civic  service   shows  a  purer-toned  ambition' 


CONSTRUCTIVE  MKN  <>!«'  LA  K<  >LLKTTK  ADMINISTRATIONS 
1 — John  11.  Commons,  assisted  drafting  reform  legislation, 
member  first  Industrial  Commission.  2 — Charles  H.  McCarthy, 
lirst  "people's  expert"  in  drafting  legislation,  head  of  Legisla 
tive  Reference  Bureau.  .'5 — Chief  Justice  John  H.  Winslow,  au 
thor  of  Great  Opinion  Sustaining  Workmen's  Compensation 
Law.  (Copyrighted  by  l>eLonge,  Madison,  Wis.)  4 — William 
H.  Hatton,  senate  leader  in  Utility  Regulation  Legislation.  .r> — • 
Charles  R.  Van  Hise,  under  whom  as  president  (1904-1919)  Uni 
versity  of  Wisconsin  had  remarkable  growth. 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Republican  Insurgent  Movement  in 
Congress. 

LAFOLLETTE 'S  FlRST  FORMAL  SPEECH  IN  UNITED  STATES  SEN 
ATE  CREATES  SIGNIFICANT  OCCASION — AN  HISTORIC  WARNING — 
GROWING  UNREST  IN  CONGRESS — PROGRESSIVE  MOVEMENT  ORGAN 
IZED  AT  LAFOLLETTE  HOME — ROOSEVELT  CANDIDACY  SPLITS  PRO 
GRESSIVE  ELEMENT  IN  PARTY. 

1 N  the  history  of  American  politics  April  19,  1906,  may 
be  rightly  termed  an  interesting  and,  to  no  little  ex 
tent,  a  significant  day.  In  one  of  the  ablest  discussions 
of  the  railroad  regulation  question  that  had  so  far  been 
heard  in  congress,  the  lines  that  day  were  laid  down 
upon  which  the  various  states  and  the  federal  govern 
ment  have  since  found  it  most  practicable  to  proceed, 
not  only  in  the  regulation  of  railroads,  but  of  other  great 
activities  of  capital  that  affect  the  daily  life  of  the  whole 
people,  and  whose  growth  and  development  form  at  once 
the  chief  industrial  phenomenon  and  problem  of  the 
times.  But  a  further  significance  was  to  grow  out  of 
the  occasion  and  the  discussion  to  which  reference  is 
here  made. 

The  scene  is  the  chamber  of  the  United  States  senate. 
The  so-called  "Hepburn  rate  bill"  is  under  discussion. 
A  new  figure  in  this  storied  hall  has  just  obtained  the 
floor — Robert  Marion  LaFollette  of  Wisconsin.  He  is 
not  unknown,  even  among  his  senatorial  colleagues.  He 
has  already  served  a  number  of  years  in  the  lower  house, 
and  for  a  decade  has  made  a  great  stir  in  his  state  over 
the  railroad  question  and  placed  upon  his  home  statute  ^ 
books  a  variety  of  "reform"  laws  whose  practicability 
remains  to  be  determined.  Furthermore,  his  has  been 


IS. LAFOLLETTE'  'WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

:-\;  •/:  >-:'•/;::    :       •*•„ 

-'the  rather  unusual'  act' o*f  -withholding  resignation  of  the 
governorship  of  his  state  for  a  year  after  his  election  to 
the  senate  in  order  that  he  might  intrench  and  perfect 
these  laws. 

Not  only  is  the  occasion  interesting  because  of  the 
sounding  of  a  new  voice,  but  because  a  tradition  is  being 
violated.  The  speaker  has  been  in  his  seat  but  three 
months,  not  appearing  until  a  month  after  congress  had 
convened.  Under  the  unwritten  and  time-honored  prac 
tice  of  the  dignified  body  of  which  he  has  become  a  mem 
ber,  he  should  not  presume  to  ask  the  ear  of  the  senate 
during  his  first  session  at  least;  yet  there  he  rises  with 
every  indication  of  entering  upon  a  prolonged  speech, 
and  upon  the  great  and  intricate  question  of  railroad 
regulation. 

Predictions  had  been  freely  made  in  the  press,  and  in 
political  circles,  that  upon  the  coming  of  the  "Wisconsin 
firebrand"  to  the  senate  he  would  be  given  a  reception 
calculated  to  cool  the  ardor  with  which  he  had  carried 
on  his  anti-corporation  crusades  at  home.  In  short,  a 
"hazing"  awaited  him  should  he  presume  to  advance 
any  of  his  ideas  and  methods  in  the  senate. 

Thus  the  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate  of  January 
10,  1906,  said : 

It  is  stated  in  the  daily  press  that  Ex-Governor  LaFollette, 
who  was  elected  some  months  ago  by  the  legislature  of  Wisconsin 
as  the  colleague  of  Senator  Spooner  in  the  United  States  senate, 
will  be  subjected  to  certain  treatment  when  he  enters  that  body 
euch  as  is  usually  accorded  to  new  members;  and  if  he  should  pre 
sume  to  attempt  to  make  a  speech  in  the  senate  before  he  has  been 
a  member  of  the  body  for  a  certain  length  of  time  that  the  sena 
tors  will  show  their  disapproval  by  slipping  out  of  the  senate 
chamber  and  leaving  him  to  speak  to  empty  seats.  If  this  should 
be  done,  the  discourtesy  will  not  be  to  Senator  LaFollette,  but  to 
the  state  of  Wisconsin. 

Evidently  the  hour  when  he  may  expect  such  demon 
stration  of  disapproval  from  his  fellow  members  is  at 
hand. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  INSURGENT  MOVEMENT  19 

LaFollette  had  devoted  years  of  profound  study  to 
the  railroad  regulation  question.  He  knew  that  he  felt 
his  ground  more  securely  than  many  of  his  older  col 
leagues  who  were  droning  along  on  the  subject.  In  the 
very  opening  sentence  of  his  speech  on  this  occasion,  he 
laid  bare  the  irrelevancy  of  much  of  the  discussion,  as 
well  as  a  common  legislative  trick,  by  saying : 

The  opponents  of  the  regulation  of  railway  rates  and  services 
have  skilfully  conducted  this  debate,  almost  from  the  beginning, 
upon  constitutional  grounds. 

Convinced  that  he  could  shed  some  light  on  the  sub 
ject,  and  feeling  it  his  duty,  no  less  to  the  people  of  the 
nation  than  to  those  of  his  state,  whom  he  believed  he 
was  sent  to  represent,  the  new  senator  resolved  to  speak, 
tradition  or  no  tradition,  and  whatever  grotesque  con 
ventions  might  stand  in  the  way. 

The  speech  delivered  by  Senator  LaFollette  on  that 
day,  and  the  two  days  succeeding,  was  perhaps  the  most 
thorough-going  discussion  of  the  railroad  regulation 
problem  that  had  so  far  been  heard  in  the -national  cap- 
itol.  Such  was  the  general  verdict  of  the  press  at  the 
time.  In  its  printed  form  it  comprised  144  pages.  It 
has  justly  been  called  a  textbook  upon  the  question.  It 
has  been  in  enormous  demand  even  to  this  day,  and  is 
found  upon  the  shelf  of  practically  every  member  of  con 
gress  or  other  serious  student  of  the  railroad  question. 
The  result  of  years  of  study  and  practical  experience  in 
legislation,  it  touched  basic  principles  and  pointed  the 
way  on  which  to  proceed  to  obtain  practical  and  worth 
while  results.  In  the  more  thoughtful  press  of  the  time 
it  was  widely  quoted  and  heralded  as  a  new  word  upon 
an  old  subject. 

But  his  impatient  colleagues  were  determined  to  make 
an  example  of  his  effrontery,  little  realizing  that  by  so 
doing  the  day  was  to  be  big  in  future  results. 

The  new  senator  had  spoken  but  a  few  minutes  when 


20  LAFOLLKTTK'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

he  found  his  fellow  members  crowding  the  doorways  of 
the  cloak  rooms.  Then  it  was  that,  quite  by  the  way,  he 
dropped  the  now  historic  words : 

Mr.  President:  1  pause  in  my  remarks  to  say  this:  I  can 
not  be  wholly  indifferent  to  the  fact  that  senators  by  their  absence 
at  this  time  indicate  their  lack  of  interest  in  what  I  may  have 
to  say  upon  this  subject.  The  public  is  interested.  Unless  this 
important  question  is  rightly  settled,  seats  now  temporarily  vacant 
may  be  permanently  vacated  by  those  who  have  the  right  to  oc 
cupy  them  at  this  time. 

In  violation  of  the  rules,  the  galleries  applaud  these 
daring  words.  Then  arises  Senator  Kean,  of  New  Jer 
sey,  and  says : 

Mr.  President:  I  rise  to  a  question  of  order.  I  ask  that  the 
rules  of  the  senate  be  enforced,  and  that  the  galleries  be  cleared. 

The  presiding  officer  (Senator  Long  in  the  chair)  says : 
The  presiding   officer  will  admonish   the  occupants   of   the  gal 
leries  that  it  is  contrary  to  the  rules  of  the  senate  to  express  ap 
proval  or  disapproval  of  any  remarks  that  may  be  made,  and  upon 
a  recurrence  of  it.  the  galleries  will  be  ordered  cleared. 

From  that  hour  republican  insurgency  in  congress  be 
gan  taking  tangible  form;  the  progressive  movement  in 
the  party  had  received  the  stimulus  that  was  to  quicken 
it  into  organized  individual  life  and  therein  lay  the 
double  significance  of  the  occasion.  "LaFollette  talking 
to  empty  seats  and  applautling  galleries,  and  Kean  mov 
ing  to  have  the  galleries  cleared,"  remarked  a  paper  of 
Kean's  own  state  at  the  time,  "is  eloquently  significant. 
It  is  a  prophecy  and  a  hope  of  better  things. ' ' 

A  study  of  the  senate  roll  calls  of  the  sessions  imme 
diately  following  is  interesting.  It  reveals  LaFollette 
as  a  lone  insurgent  among  his  party  colleagues,  voting 
independently  and  fearlessly,  regardless  of  expediency, 
and  guided  only  by  his  conceptions  of  the  principles  of 
justice  and  right.  The  proposition  laid  down  in  his 
speech  upon  the  Hepburn  bill,  chief  of  which  was  that 
of  physical  valuation  of  railroads  as  a  basis  in  rate- 


THE  REPUBLICAN  INSURGENT  MOVEMENT  21 

making,  he  incorporated  in  amendments  to  that  bill,  and 
to  other  measures  that  came  up,  but  one  by  one  they  were 
almost  invariably  voted  down.  Had  they  been  adopted 
congress  might,  in  some  degree,  at  least,  have  been  spared 
the  long  and  weary  time  spent  upon  the  so-called  com 
merce  court  bill  in  the  session  of  1910. 
r  The  economic  soundness  and  moral  justness  of  the  pro 
posed  amendments,  however,  began  in  time  to  appeal  to 
some  of  his  more  open-minded  western  colleagues  and 
finally  his  continued  brave  and  consistent  stand  began 
to  attract  some  of  these  senators  to  his  banner,  and  thus 
was  formed  the  nucleus  of  thp  organized  progressive 
republican  movement  of  the  time. 

Among  the  first  of  his  colleagues  to  begin  taking  their 
stand  with  him  was  Senator  Dolliver  of  Iowa,  soon  to 
close  his  brilliant  career.  Later  on  came  Senator  Cum 
mins  of  the  same  state.  From  Idaho  came  Borah,  young, 
brilliant,  fired  by  high  ideals;  from  Nebraska,  Brown, 
an  alfle  and  aggressive  debater  when  he  chose  to  be ;  from 
Oregon,  Bourne,  champion  of  popular  rule  legislation  in 
his  state;  from  Kansas,  Bristow,  a  thorough  democrat, 
unflagging  foe  of  privilege  and  corruption,  of  tireless 
industry  and  dogmatic  convictions;  from  Minnesota, 
Clapp,  ponderous  of  build  and  equi-ponderant  in  ora 
tory,  who  from  education  in  the  Badger  state  compre 
hended  the  Wisconsin  temper  and  spirit. 

Later  on  came  Beveridge  of  Indiana,  one  of  the  ablest 
and  most  versatile  men  who  ever  sat  in  the  senate;  who 
had  himself  been  previously  hazed  for  the  same  sin  of 
not  sitting  through  a  probationary  period  as  a  dummy 
representative  of  his  state ;  and  Crawford  of  South  Da 
kota,  a  strong  self-made  man,  who,  as  governor  of  his 
state,  had  signed  a  comprehensive  series  of  reform  laws 
that  had  also  put  his  state  in  the  front  rank  of  progres 
sive  commonwealths. 

In  short,  the  insurgent  group  in  the  senate  in  1910  in 
cluded  the  majority  of  the  ablest  debaters  and  all-around 


22  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

strongest  men  on  the  republican  side.  ''The  somewhat 
lonesome  pioneer  from  Wisconsin,"  as  he  was  character 
ized  by  Senator  Dolliver,  had  more  than  vindicated  an 
other  prophecy — that  he  would  not  long  stand  alone. 

In  the  house  a  like  party  revolt  was  inevitable,  follow 
ing  the  high-handed  procedure  of  the  so-called  Cannon 
''machine"  in  the  passage  of  the  Payne  tariff  bill.  The 
adoption  by  the  republican  majority  of  the  Dalzell  gag 
resolution  shutting  off  amendments  and  debate  on  all 
but  a  half  dozen  items  in  this  bill  was  simply  character 
istic  of  the  tyranny  which  the  speaker  and  his  committee 
on  rules  had  developed  through  a  long  course  of  years, 
but  was  now  to  rouse  more  than  ordinary  protest  in  the 
breasts  of  the  more  independent  members  of  the  party. 

Congressman  Cooper  of  Wisconsin  had  often  de 
nounced  and  voted  against  this  growing  arrogance  and 
power  of  the  speaker,  and  Congressman  Nelson  of  Wis 
consin  had  made  himself  a  marked  man  in  his  first  term 
by  agitating  a  curtailing  of  this  power.  The  brave  but 
futile  attempt  of  the  little  band  of  republican  insurgents 
to  bring  about  this  end  at  the  opening  of  the  special 
tariff  session  in  1909  emphasized  the  growing  protest 
against  machine  subversion  of  popular  government. 

The  insurgency  of  the  house,  like  that  of  the  senate, 
was  western  in  its  makeup.  Naturally  Congressmen 
Cooper,  Nelson  and  Lenroot  of  Wisconsin,  seasoned  vet 
erans  in  LaFollette's  state  campaigns,  became  influen 
tial  factors  in  it.  Norris  of  Nebraska  identified  himself 
with  it  and  was  to  have  the  peculiar  distinction  of  lead 
ing  the  fight  that  finally  led  to  the  unhorsing  of  Speaker 
Cannon  in  March,  1910.  A  militant  recruit  to  the  cause 
immediately  on  his  entrance  in  the  house  was  Poindexter 
of  the  state  of  Washington,  who,  although  Virginia-bred, 
had  thoroughly  absorbed  the  spirit  of  his  new  home. 
Murdock,  representing  the  independent  Kansas  temper; 
Davis,  Lindbergh  and  Volstead  of  Minnesota ;  Cary, 


THE  REPUBLICAN  INSURGENT  MOVEMENT 

Morse  and  Kopp  of  Wisconsin;  Hubbard,  Haugen  and 
Kendall  of  Iowa,  and  Hayes  of  California  were  others 
active  in  the  house  movement. 

These  members  reflected  the  sentiment  that  was  spring 
ing  up  in  their  respective  sections.  The  extent  to  which 
the  idea  of  revolt  had  seized  upon  the  popular  mind  was 
strikingly  shown  in  the  elections  of  1910  whereby  dozens 
of  "standpat"  senators  and  congressmen  of  both  parties, 
many  of  great  prominence,  were  retired  to  private  life, 
most  of  them  being  succeeded  by  "progressives." 

The  inspiration  of  the  movement  was  a  fresh  con 
sciousness  of  the  necessity  of  curbing  the  dangerous  and 
growing  tendencies  toward  industrial  and  commercial 
despotism  on  the  part  of  organized  wealth ;  a  new  realiza 
tion  of  the  justice  of  the  age-long  demand  for  equal  op 
portunities  to  all,  and  a  determination  to  insist  on  its 
more  general  observance. 

Again,  as  in  many  instances  in  the  past,  this  convic 
tion  was  to  be  translated  from  mere  academic  acceptance 
into  action,  and  again,  as  in  the  time  of  Lincoln,  the  hope 
of  its  assertion  in  red-blooded  practical  form  was  to  lie 
in  the  virile  west.  The  east,  with  its  more  settled  order, 
its  reverence  for  property  and  established  things,  would 
naturally  be  slow  to  respond  to  the  new  movement,  as 
would  the  almost  equally  tory  south,  blinded  by  its  twin 
delusions  of  states'  rights  and  negro  domination,  its 
preference  of  combating  the  phantoms  of  the  past  to 
fighting  the  dragons  of  the  present. 

"All  through  American  history,"  says  Prof.  E.  A. 
Ross,  "democracy  has  been  like  a  tradewind,  blowing 
ever  from  the  sunset.  The  young  states  of  the  Ohio  val 
ley  led  in  multiplying  the  number  of  elective  offices,  in 
introducing  rapid  rotation  in  office,  in  submitting  state 
constitutions  to  popular  ratification.  Class  bulwarks  of 
colonial  date  were  thus  pounded  to  pieces  by  the  surf 
of  democratic  sentiment  from  the  west ;  Jeffersonian  and 


24  L.VFOLLKTTK'S    WINNING    OF   WISCONSIN 

Jacksonian  democracy,  Lincoln  republicanism,  Granger- 
ism,  populism,  Bryan  democracy,  Roosevelt  republican 
ism — wave  after  wave  has  rolled  seaward,  loosing  the 
east  from  its  Old  World,  or  first  family,  or  'best  people' 
moorings. ' ' 

Restoration  of  popular  rule,  a  return  to  the  principles 
and  practices  that  were  designed  to  mark  the  govern 
ment  in  its  beginning,  was  the  simple  creed  of  the  move 
ment.  The  expression  by  the  new  progressive  pioneers 
of  this  sentiment,  and  of  the  imperative  necessity  of 
action,  while  varied  in  form,  was  of  the  same  general 
tenor. 

Thus  on  his  second  election  to  the  United  States  senate, 
Senator  LaFollette  said : 

We  are  slow  to  realize  that  democracy  is  a  life;  and  involves 
continual  struggle.  It  is  only  as  those  of  every  generation  who 
love  democracy  resist  with  all  their  might  the  encroachments  of 
its  enemies  that  the  ideals  of  representative  government  can  even 
be  nearly  approximated. 

The  essence  of  the  progressive  movement,  as  I  see  it,  lies  in 
its  struggle  to  uphold  the  fundamental  principles  of  representative 
government.  It  expresses  the  hopes  and  desires  of  millions  of 
common  men  and  women  who  are  willing  to  fight  for  their  ideals, 
to  take  defeat,  if  necessary,  and  still  go  on  fighting. 

This  composite  judgment  is  always  safer  and  wiser  and 
stronger  and  more  unselfish  than  the  judgment  of  any  one  indi 
vidual  mind.  The  people  have  never  failed  in  any  great  crisis  in 
our  history.  The  real  danger  to  democracy  lies  not  in  the  igno 
rance  or  want  of  patriotism  in  the  people,  but  in  the  corrupting 
influence  of  powerful  business  organizations  upon  the  representa 
tives  of  the  people.  The  real  cure  for  the  ills  of  democracy  is 
more  democracy. 

Said  Woodrow  Wilson,  then  governor  of  New  Jersey : 

It  is  part  of  the  new  meaning  of  government,  therefore,  that 
its  resources  are  not  to  be  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  governing 
class,  or  of  any  lynited  set  of  governing  influences;  but  that  those 
who  exercise  its  authority  must  ' '  keep  house ' '  for  the  whole  people. 
The  reason  we  want  our  government  to  be  free  from  every  kind 
of  private  or  narrow  control  is  that  we  want  to  have  it  see  more 
things  than  it  would  see  if  it  served  only  a  few.  Those  who  con- 


THE  REPUBLICAN  INSURGENT  MOVEMENT  25 

duet  it  ought  to  have  the  vision  of  the  nation  itself — ought  to  be 
sensitive  to  impulses  from  every  quarter. 

Again,  in  an  interview,  Governor  Wilson  said: 
What  policies  characterize  progressive  democracy?  All  those 
policies  whose  object  is  to  wrest  government  from  the  control  of 
special  groups  of  men,  and  restore  it  to  the  country.  All  the 
policies  that  re-establish  the  connection  between  representatives 
and  the  people.  All  well-considered  measures  that  will  tend  to  re 
establish  general  opportunity  and  freedom  of  enterprise. 

Judge  Ben  B.  Lindsey  of  Colorado  predicted  great 
coming  changes,  saying: 

The  work  has  only  begun ;  we  are  changing  our  forms  of  gov 
ernment;  we  are  making  it  more  simple.  We  are  taking  away 
the  chance  of  confusion ;  but  most  of  all  we  are  putting  that 
power  directly  into  the  hands  of  all  the  people  to  bring  about  a 
reign  of  real  democracy. 

No  man  who  is  not  ready  to  grant  to  every  other  man  all  that 
he  demands  for  himself,  whether  in  political  power  or  in  oppor 
tunity,  has  any  place  in  this  great  struggle.  No  man  who  is  un 
willing  to  trust  all  the  people  all  the  time  with  any  question  can 
survive  in  this  great  bloodless  revolution  that  is  now  transforming 
the  nation. 

Senator  Jonathan  Bourne  of  Oregon,  in  his  famous 
speech  in  the  United  States  senate  on  Oregon,  May  5, 
1910,  said : 

There  are  dbubtless  some  people  who  honestly  believe  that  the 
people  as  a  whole  have  not  reached  the  stage  of  development  qual 
ifying  them  individually  to  participate  in  government.  Others 
whom  I  credit  with  the  intelligence  which  I  have  seen  manifested 
by  them  in  other  directions  assert  the  inability  of  the  people  to 
govern  themselves  as  an  excuse  rather  than  a  conviction;  but  I, 
Mr.  President,  from  thirty  years'  experience  in  practical  politics, 
am  absolutely  convinced  not  only  that  the  people  are  fully  capable 
of  governing  themselves,  but  that  they  are  decidedly  the  best 
judges  as  to  those  individually  to  whom  they  shall  delegate  the 
truly  representative  power. 

Writing  in  the  American  Magazine,  William  Allen 
White  of  Kansas  said : 

That  there  is  a  well  defined  feeling  in  our  hearts  manifest  in 
our  private  charities  and  our  public  utterances  in  conventions  and 


26  LAFOLLETTB'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

legislatures  that  society  is  not  doing  its  duty  toward  those  who 
do  the  world 's  work,  no  one  who  heeds  public  sentiment  can  doubt. 
This  sentiment  is  growing.  It  is  behind  the  so-called  progressive 
movement  in  our  politics — giving  it  moral  impetus.  When  that 
sentiment  hardens  and  becomes  the  set  and  fixed  expression  of 
the  American  people  government  will  respond  to  it,  for  neither 
courts  nor  constitutions  can  stand  before  public  sentiment. 

Even  in  the  universities  this  sentiment  of  unrest  was 
noted  and  given  expression.  Speaking  on  the  subject 
of  "The  Spirit  of  a  University,"  President  Charles  R. 
Van  Hise  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  said : 

As  of  old,  so  today,  the  spirit  of  the  university  is  in  irrecon 
cilable  conflict  with  those  who  hold  that  the  present  state  of  affairs 
is  the  best  possible,  who  believe  that  existing  conventions,  morals, 
political  and  religious  faith,  are  fixed.  All  are  fluid.  For  one 
nation  they  are  not  the  same  as  for  another.  For  each  nation 
they  are  modified  from  generation  to  generation.  This  will  con 
tinue  so  long  as  the  race  endures.  In  the  university,  one  of  the 
chief  functions  of  which  is  to  inquire,  ever  to  adjust,  ever  to  im 
prove,  ever  to  advance  knowledge,  the  flux  is  greatest,  the  prog 
ress  most  rapid;  and  therefore  these  institutions  are  the  very 
centers  of  disturbance. 

Naturally  William  J.  Bryan  was  in  sympathy  with  the 
movement.  Speaking  before  the  Ohio  constitutional  con 
vention  somewhat  later  he  said : 

The  initiative  and  referendum  do  not  overthrow  representative 
government — they  have  not  come  to  destroy  but  to  fulfill.  The 
purpose  of  representative  government  is  to  represent,  and  that 
purpose  fails  when  representatives  misrepresent  their  constituents. 
Experience  has  shown  that  the  defects  of  our  government  are  not 
in  the  people  themselves,  but  in  those  who,  acting  as  representa 
tives  of  the  people,  embezzle  power  and  turn  to  their  own  advan 
tage  the  authority  given  them  for  the  advancement  of  the  public 
welfare.  It  has  cost  centuries  to  secure  popular  government — 
the  blood  of  millions  of  the  best  and  the  bravest  has  been  poured 
out  to  establish  the  doctrine  that  governments  derive  their  just 
powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

All  this  struggle,  all  this  sacrifice,  has  been  in  vain  if,  when 
we  secure  a  representative  government,  the  people's  representa 
tives  can  betray  them  with  impunity  and  mock  their  constituents 
while  they  draw  salaries  from  the  public  treasury. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  INSURGENT  MOVEMENT  27 

Prof.  E.  A.  Ross  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  in 
an  article  in  the  Century  Magazine,  said : 

It  is  this  affrighting  vision  of  monopoly  that  explains  the 
iron  determination  of  the  people  to  get  a  firmer  grip  on  their 
government.  It  is  true,  as  witness  Oregon,  that  when  they  get 
direct  legislation  they  do  nothing  radical  with  it;  but  they  are 
thinking  of  the  future,  like  a  prudent  traveler  who  looks  to  his 
shooting  irons  before  setting  out  through  a  country  infested  by 
brigands. 

The  reascension  of  democracy  has  been  prompted  not  by  se 
ditious  intent,  popular  self  conceit,  or  the  seduction  of  strange 
doctrines,  but  by  prudence.  Bitter  experience  has  taught  the 
people  that  the  secret  rule  of  certain  kinds  of  property  or  certain 
kinds  of  business  through  the  party  machines  mean  things  abom 
inable — predatory  vice,  private  monopoly,  the  wasting  of  natural 
wealth,  overworked  children  and  women,  industrial  oppression. 

Said  George  L.  Record  of  New  Jersey  at  the  national 
conference  of  progressive  republicans  in  Chicago,  in 
October,  1911 : 

Because  men  are  gradually  becoming  more  conscious  that 
some  men  are  getting  something  for  nothing — because  they  are 
becoming  conscious  that  a  few  people,  in  piling  up  enormous  for 
tunes,  are  taking  advantage  of  conditions  which,  morally,  are  un 
sound  and  not  to  be  justified — for  that  reason  we  are  here. 

Speaking  before  the  American  Institute  of  Criminal 
Law  and  Criminology  Chief  Justice  J.  B.  Winslow  of 
Wisconsin  said : 

The  democracies  which  are  coming  propose  to  place  both  legis 
lative  and  executive  power  directly  in  the  hands  of  the  people  or 
under  their  immediate  control,  so  far  as  that  may  be  possible. 
The  democracies  of  the  past  have  limited  the  electorate  to  male 
citizens;  the  democracies  which  are  coming  w-ill  without  doubt 
welcome  to  the  electorate  female'  citizens  on  equal  terms,  not  as  a 
privilege,  but  as  a  means  of  eternal  justice  and  right. 

The  direct  primary,  the  initiative  and  referendum,  the  recall, 
the  equal  suffrage  movement,  the  election  of  United  States  sen 
ators  by  popular  vote,  the  presidential  preference  primary — all 
these  movements,  whether  yet  adopted  or  only  agitated,  are  simply 
manifestations  of  the  overwhelming  democratic  spirit  of  the  time. 

How  are  we  to  make  sure  of  that  high  quality  of  citizenship 
which  will  be  necessary  in  such  a  democracy  as  we  shall  have? 


28  LAFOLLETTE'S    WINNING    OF   WISCONSIN 

This  question  is  probably  not  capable  of  an  authoritative 
answer  in  a  single  word,  nor  shall  I  attempt  to  give  one,  but  the 
word  which  the  moving  finger  of  progress  is  today  writing  is  the 
word  "Service." 

For  centuries  individualism  has  been  the  keynote  of  civiliza 
tion,  especially  in  this  land  which  has  boasted  so  loudly  of  its 
freedom  and  equality.  We  have  gloried  in  the  idea  that'  every 
man  was  the  master  of  his  own  destiny  and  must  fight  his  battle 
alone;  we  have  seen  the  struggle  for  wealth  and  social  distinction 
— nay  even  for  the  necessities  of  life — become  fiercer  and  fiercer, 
and  we  have  condoned  the  ruthless  cruelty  and  selfishness  of  it 
all  on  the  ground  that  all  citizens  have  equal  opportunities  and 
that  the  triumph  of  the  strong  and  the  trampling  down  of  the 
weak  is  but  the  working  of  nature's  immutable  and  righteous 
law. 

But  the  consciousness  that  man  cannot  live  for  himself  alone 
has  come  at  last;  the  public  conscience  is  awake;  we  now  for  the 
first  time  realize  faintly  and  imperfectly  the  marvelous  signifi 
cance  of  the  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan.  We  are  learning 
who  are  our  neighbors  and  we  are  realizing  that  an  injury  to  one 
of  the  least  of  these  is  an  injury  to  society  as  a  whole. 

It  was  an  opportune  time  for  the  launching  of  a  new 
movement.  The  sixty-first  congress,  then  passing  out 
of  existence,  had  manifested  a  most  stubborn  and  ap 
parently  wilful  disinclination  to  meet  the  demands  of 
the  hour.  It  was  this  congress  which,  with  the  aid  of  a 
pliant  president,  had  enacted  the  repugnant  Payne- 
Aldrich  tariff  law;  which  had,  in  effect,  placed  the  seal 
of  approval  upon  bribery  by  retaining  Senator  Lorimer 
in  his  seat;  which  by  "whitewashing*!  Secretary  Ballin- 
ger  had  condoned  his  acquiescence  in  the  bold  designs 
of  the  Morgan-Guggenheim  syndicate  upon  the  resources 
of  Alaska;  which  had  voted  down  the  amendment  for 
the  popular  election  of  United  States  senators;  which 
had  long  resisted  giving  Arizona  statehood  because  of 
its  progressive  constitution,  and  which  had  tried  hard  to 
weaken  the  Sherman  anti-trust  law  in  favor  of  the  rail 
roads  and  succeeded,  in  spite  of  the  gallant  fight  of  its 
progressive  members,  in  setting  up  the  commerce  court 


THE  REPUBLICAN  INSURGENT  MOVEMENT  29 

between  the  interstate  commerce  commission  and  the 
people.  If  charity  spare  this  congress  the  characteriza 
tion  of  "infamous,"  history  can  scarcely  fail  to  ascribe 
to  its  leaders  that  lack  of  vision  proverbially  attributed 
to  those  whom  the  gods  would  destroy. 

As  a  cause,  however,  the  progressive  movement  in  the 
republican  party  was  formless,  sporadic  and  unrelated 
in  its  various  activities  until  taken  in  hand  by  the  organ 
izing  genius  of  LaFollette,  who  soon  had  its  largely  un 
directed  enthusiasm  turned  into  effective  channels. 

After  a  number  of  preliminary  meetings  at  the  home 
of  Senator  LaFollette,  1864  Wyoming  avenue,  Washing 
ton,  the  National  Progressive  Republican  League  was 
formed  January  21,  1911.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  then 
that  in  this  house  was  formed  the  nucleus  of  what  was 
to  be  the  new  progressive  party  of  a  year  later. 

The  league  promulgated  a  simple  platform,  the  sub- 
. stance  of  wrhich  was  contained  in  its  first  declaration: 
"The  object  of  the  league  is  the  promotion  of  popular 
government  and  progressive  legislation."  To  that  end 
it  set  forth  as  its  objects,  and  pledged  to  aid  wherever 
it  could,  legislation  looking  toward  the  direct  election 
of  United  States  senators,  direct  primaries  in  the  elec 
tion  of  all  public  officials,  presidential  preference  pri 
maries,  the  initiative,  referendum  and  recall  and  corrupt 
practices  laws. 

While  the  platform  was  silent  on  this  point,  it  was 
denied  by  its  members  that  the  purpose  of  the  league 
was  to  advance  or  oppose  the  personal  fortunes  of  candi 
dates.  Nevertheless  it  was  an  open  secret  that  many  of 
the  prime  movers  in  the  organization  of  the  league  were 
primarily  interested,  whether  selfishly  or  otherwise,  in 
the  man  rather  than  the  cause,  and  felt  intuitively  that 
one  moral  effect  of  the  movement  would  be  to  further 
the  prestige  of  its  real  leader.  Senator  LaFollette.  It 
were  safe  to  assume  also  that  back  of  some  of  its  mem- 


30  LAFOLLETTE'S    WINNING    OF    WISCONSIN 

bers  the  impelling  motive  was  a  desire  to  inflict  venge 
ance  on  President  Taf t  for  supposed  injuries ;  of  others 
the  hope  of  more  speedy  preference  through  new  author 
ity.  However,  that  Senator  LaFollette  might  have  a 
free  hand  in  pending  legislation,  and  to  disarm  the 
charge  which  might  otherwise  be  made  that  the  real  pur 
pose  of  the  league  was  to  advance  his  presidential  candi 
dacy,  the  Wisconsin  senator  was  not  made  an  officer  of 
the  league  nor  placed  upon  any  of  its  committees.  The 
following  were  elected  officers  of  the  league : 

President — Senator  Jonathan  Bourne,  Jr.,  Oregon. 

First  Vice  President — Representative  George  W.  Nor- 
ris,  Nebraska. 

Second  Vice  President — Governor  Chase  S.  Osborn, 
Michigan. 

Treasurer — Charles  R.  Crane,  Chicago. 

Executive  Committee — Senator  Moses  E.  Clapp  of 
Minnesota,  Senator  Joseph  L.  Bristow  of  Kansas,  Rep 
resentative  E.  H.  Hubbard  of  Iowa,  Representative 
Irvine  L.  Lenroot  of  Wisconsin,  Representative-elect 
William  Kent  of  California,  Gifford  Pinchot  of  Penn 
sylvania,  George  L.  Record  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  presi 
dent,  vice  presidents  and  treasurer,  members  ex-officio. 

The  following  United  States  senators  were  amorig  the 
original  signers :  Jonathan  Bourne,  Jr.,  of  Oregon,  Al 
bert  J.  Beveridge  of  Indiana,  Joseph  L.  Bristow  of  Kan 
sas,  Norris  Brown  of  Nebraska,  Albert  B.  Cummins  of 
Iowa,  Moses  E.  Clapp  of  Minnesota,  Joseph  M.  Dixon  of 
Montana,  A.  J.  Gronna  of  North  Dakota,  Robert  M.  La 
Follette  of  Wisconsin.  State  governors  among  the  first 
signers  were :  Chester  H.  Aldrich  of  Nebraska,  Joseph 
M.  Carey  of  Wyoming,  Hiram  W.  Johnson  of  California, 
Francis  E.  McGovern  of  Wisconsin,  Chase  S.  Osborn  of 
Michigan  and  W.  R.  Stu.bbs  of  Kansas. 

Members  of  congress  to  be  allied  with  the  league  were : 
Henry  Allen  Cooper.  William  J.  Cary,  John  M.  Nelson, 


THE  REPUBLICAN   INSURGENT  MOVEMENT  31 

Irvine  L.  Lenroot  and  E.  A.  Morse  of  Wisconsin;  C.  K. 
Davis  and  C.  A.  Lindbergh  of  Minnesota;  E.  H.  Hub- 
bard  and  G.  N.  Haugen  of  Iowa;  Victor  Murdock  and 
E.  H.  Madison  of  Kansas;  George  W.  Norris  of  Ne 
braska,  and  Miles  Poindexter  of  Washington.  Other 
signers  were  Alfred  L.  Baker  of  Illinois,  Ray  Stannard 
Baker  and  Louis  D.  Brandeis  of  Massachusetts,  Chas. 
R.  Crane  of  Illinois,  Frank  L.  Dingley  of  Maine,  James 
R.  Garfield  of  Ohio,  Hugh  T.  Halbert,  George  S.  Loftus 
and  James  A.  Peterson  of  Minnesota,  Francis  J.  Heney 
of  California,  Fred  S.  Jackson  (congressman-elect)  of 
Kansas,  William  Kent  (congressman-elect)  of  Cali 
fornia,  William  L.  LaFollette  (congressman-elect)  of 
Washington,  Gifford  Pinchot  of  Pennsylvania.  Amos 
Pinchot,  Clarence  Jones,  Frederic  C.  Howe  and  Gilbert 
E.  Roe  of  New  York,  W.  S.  U'Ren  of  Oregon,  Merle  D. 
Vincent  of  Colorado  and  William  Allen  White  of 
Kansas. 

Former  President  Roosevelt  was  early  visited  by  a 
delegation  from  the  league  and  invited  to  join,  but  cau 
tiously  declined  to  do  so,  giving  as  his  reason  "that  it 
might  develop  that  he  could  be  of  better  service  to  the 
progressive  cause  as  a  free  lance." 

Senator  LaFollette  was  generally  recognized  through 
out  the  country  as  the  accepted  leader  of  the  new  cause. 
Sketches,  studies  and  portraits  of  him  filled  the  news 
papers  and  magazines  even  to  far-off  Australia.  He  was 
deluged  with  congratulatory  letters  conveying  apprecia 
tion  and  affection,  literally  tens  of  thousands  of  them 
being  added  to  his  already  great  wealth  of  similar  testi 
monials — a  wealth  to  appal  the  future  compiler  and  his 
torian.  Indeed  the  measure  of  fame  and  affection  con 
tained  in  these  letters  might  well  lead  any  recipient  to 
contemplate  with  composure  the  denial  of  any  further 
favor  of  fortune.  One  correspondent,  for  instance, 
among  the  thousands,  a  minister  by  the  way,  wrote : 


LAFOLLETTE 's  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

"In  some  ways  this  battle  for  political  and  commercial 
righteousness  is  more  important  than  the  battle  under 
Lincoln  for  union  and  freedom.  Fight !  There  must  be 
no  quarter  in  this  contest.  Save  the  union  if  the  party 
is  lost !  Keep  your  plume  white  and  as  in  the  past  stand 
for  righteousness  at  any  cost.  My  blood  thrills  at  the 
opportunity  you  and  those  with  you  have  of  opening 
the  way  for  the  people's  escape,  and  I  like  to  think  of 
you  as  prophets  of  God  sent  for  the  deliverance  of  the 
people  and  to  furnish  an  example  to  all  nations  of  heroic 
faith." 

Congressman  A.  J.  (rronna  of  North  Dakota  happily 
reflected  the  sentiment  of  these  professions  of  admiration 
and  devotion  when  he  said:  "Senator  LaFollette  is  the 
most  popular  man  in  North  Dakota ;  but  as  we  cannot 
elect  him  United  States  senator  there  I  have  decided  to 
seek  the  senatorship  myself  and  to  enroll  myself  under 
his  banner." 

Designed  primarily,  but  not  exclusively,  to  be  con 
fined  in  its  aims  within  the  republican  party — as  La 
Follette  's  similar  organization  in  Wisconsin  had  been — 
the  new  movement  spread  with  great  rapidity,  and  in 
dications  were  that  it  was  in  a  fair  way  soon  to  have 
taken  over  the  principal  machinery  of  the  party,  when 
it  was  diverted  in  large  portion  by  the  Roosevelt  move 
ment  away  from  the  old  organization  it  was  designed  to 
reform. 

It  may  be  here  cited  as  a  double  irony  of  fortune  that 
not  only  was  the  new  movement  to  be  thus  diverted  from 
its  most  constructive  and  promising  leader,  but  the  plat 
form  of  the  new  progressive  party  was  likewise  to  be 
largely  drawn  by  Wisconsin  hands  and  along  lines  which 
the  legislation  and  education  inspired  by  the  LaFollette 
movement  in  his  own  state  had  shown  to  be  most  prac 
tical,  and  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  times. 


CHAPTER  II 

Granger   Legislation   in   Wisconsin. 

EXPLOITATION  OF  EESOURCES  OF  STATE — RAILROAD  AND  LUMBER 
INTERESTS  ACTIVE  IN  POLITICS — POTTER  LAW  FIRST  STRONG  AT 
TEMPT  AT  EAILROAD  REGULATION — Gov.  TAYLOR'S  GREAT  FIGHT — 
CELEBRATED  COURT  DECISION — POTTER  LAW  REPEALED  AND  RAIL 
ROADS  REGAIN  POWER. 

J.T  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the  political  movement  now 
known  everywhere  as  progressive  republicanism  could  have  been 
successfully  inaugurated  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  long  and  des 
perate  struggle  to  secure  for  the  people  the  right  to  participate 
directly  in  the  choice  of  candidates  and  to  control  the  policy  of 
political  parties  in  states  like  Wisconsin  and  Iowa. 

In  Wisconsin  a  young  man,  born  upon  a  farm  near  the  capital 
of  the  state,  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  in  the  state  uni 
versity,  trained  in  the  profession  of  the  law,  gifted  as  an  orator, 
with  a  natural  aptitude  for  the  public  service,  and,  above  all,  en 
dowed  with  a  courageous  heart  and  a  genius  for  labor  and  re 
search,  awoke  to  the  fact  that  the  whole  political  life  of  the  state 
had  become  a  mere  agency  of  great  business  corporations,  many 
of  them  non-residents,  and  that  no  man,  however  qualified  to 
serve  the  community,  had  any  chance  to  do  so  without  an  alliance 
with  the  political  machine  which  they  controlled.  The  situation 
was  intolerable  to  this  eager  student  of  popular  institutions.  It 
appeared  to  him  to  forecast  the  end,  if  not  of  our  form  of  gov 
ernment,  at  least  of  its  spirit  and  substance. 

There  are  few  chapters  in  our  political  history  more  instructive 
than  the  record  of  this  man's  activities  during  the  years  follow 
ing.  He  dealt  with  the  stern  realities  of  their  case.  He  demanded 
the  reform  of  the  ancient  system  of  nominations  by  caucus  and 
the  substitution  of  the  direct  primary.  He  brought  the  great 
railway  systems  doing  business  within  the  state,  together  with 
their  attorneys  and  other  dependents,  to  the  bar  of  public  opinion 
for  judgment;  and  while  bribery  and  the  hardly  less  odious  cor 
ruption  of  railway  favors  defeated  him  in  the  next  state  conven 
tion,  he  kept  up  the  fight,  enlisting  under  his  standard  thoughtful 
and  intelligent  citizens,  and  especially  the  young  men,  until  at 
length  he  overpowered  the  oligarchy  which  for  forty  year-  haa 
3 


34  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

handed  out  the  honors  of  a  great  political  party  with  the  compli 
ments  of  the  private  interests  which  directed  the  government  of 
the  state.— United  States  Senator  J.  P.  Dolliver  in  The  Outlook, 
1910. 

In  the  great  commercial  expansion  following  the  civil 
war  and  the  deadening  of  sensibilities  resulting  from 
that  cruel  episode,  it  was  natural  that  corruption  and 
dishonesty  in  our  political  and  commercial  life  should 
appear.  All  hasty  growth  has  in  it  the  elements  of 
danger  and  decay.  All  were  glad  to  have  the  great  and 
destructive  struggle  ended  and  eager  to  return  to  peace 
ful  pursuits.  The  generally  disorganized  condition  of  so 
ciety  and  affairs  naturally  presented  many  openings  for 
the  unscrupulous  and  greedy,  many  short  cuts  to  wealth 
and  power  which  the  bold  and  designing  were  quick  to 
seize.  And  so  great  was  the  reaction  of  relief  that  the 
few  protests  now  and  then  raised  at  prevailing  practices 
too  often  fell  upon  an  unresponsive  public  ear.  There 
was  little  disposition  to  be  critical.  The  blundering  and 
lamentable  policy  pursued  toward  the  south  following 
the  death  of  Lincoln  tended  also  to  keep  alive  the  fires 
of  sectional  hatred  and  a  feeling  of  apprehension,  a  fact 
which  further  served  to  confuse  the  public  mind  with 
reference  to  issues  really  vital  and  which  designing  poli 
ticians  were  not  slow  to  turn  to  their  advantage.  Too 
often  all  that  was  necessary  in  order  to  direct  attention 
from  scandals  was  to  wave  the  "bloody  shirt"  and  in 
voke  party  loyalty  to  lay  the  bogie  of  another  southern 
uprising. 

It  mattered  not  that  the  south  was  completely  pros 
trate  ;  the  spectre  of  rebellion  was  industriously  conjured 
up  and  exorcised.  Even  the  credit  mobilier  and  other 
railroad  scandals  of  the  Grant  administrations,  by  which 
Blaine  and  so  many  other  public  men  became  tainted, 
were  not  sufficient  to  inspire  any  substantial  moral  and 
political  revulsion.  The  tremendous  prestige  given  the 
republican  party  through  its  successful  prosecution  of 


GRANGER  LEGISLATION  IN  WISCONSIN  35 

the  Civil  war  and  the  abolition  of  slavery,  coupled  with 
the  utter  incapacity  of  democratic  leadership  to  combat 
it,  afforded  a  security  to  men  in  power  most  dangerous 
to  the  public  good  and  invited  irregularity  and  corrup 
tion.  The  giving  of  land  grants  and  other  concessions 
with  a  lavish  hand,  the  carrying  of  elections  by  money 
and  violence,  the  awarding  of  extortionate  contracts,  and 
the  creation  of  innumerable  new  offices  were  features  of 
legislation  and  administration. 

As  in  national,  so  in  state  affairs ;  the  same  conditions 
were  reflected.  The  great  natural  resources  of  the  com 
monwealths,  for  instance,  were  permitted  to  be  exploited 
by  lavish  hands.  In  Wisconsin  the  exposure  of  the  rail 
road  bond  scandal  of  the  Barstow  administration  had 
operated  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  like  coarse  transac 
tions,  but  the  practical  gifts  of  great  tracts  of  public 
domain  to  railroads  and  lumber  interests  went  merrily 
forward. 

An  inevitable  result  of  this  policy  was  the  building  up 
of  families  and  corporations  of  great  wealth,  who  real 
izing  that  the  sources  of  their  fortunes  and  power  lay 
in  the  political  machinery  of  the  commonwealth  were 
jealous  to  retain  their  control  over  such  machinery.  The 
lumbering  and  railroad  interests  were  naturally  the  first 
to  develop  great  power  and  influence  in  the  state.  From 
the  beginning  of  the  state's  settlement,  as  has  been  the 
history  of  practically  all  pioneer  communities,  the  part 
nership  of  politics  and  big  business  had  been  cementing, 
the  lumber  interests  and  the  railroads  dividing  up  the 
legislative  and  administrative  offices  among  themselves 
and  the  lesser  interests. 

At  first  all  legislation  of  this  era  was  in  the  direction 
of  the  exploitation  of  natural  resources  under  the  claim 
of  creating  opportunity  and  increasing  population. 
Lands — even  those  of  the  schools  and  the  university — 
were  given  away  to  railroads  or  sold  to  individuals  at 


36  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

such  nominal  rates  that  often  a  single  tree  alone  was 
worth  ten  times  the  price  of  the  acre  oh  which  it  grew. 
Water  power  and  public  utility  franchises  were  granted 
lavishly  with  no  regard  to  state  or  municipal  rights  or 
the  interests  of  the  future.  There  was  a  rush  for  the 
spoil,  as  it  were,  all  along  the  line.  Everywhere  the  cry 
seemed  to  be,  "Here's  opportunity;  jump  in!" 

As  time  went  on  and  opportunity  became  more  and 
more  circumscribed  the  tendency  was  to  intrench  big 
property  and  to  gradually  close  the  door  on  the  general 
public.  Hence  much  of  the  legislation  of  this  period 
was  either  directly  in  favor  of  monopoly  or  contained 
"jokers"  making  harmless  to  corporations  laws  which 
seemed  designed  in  the  general  interest.  To  effect  these 
ends  it  required  gradually  finer,  smoother  and  abler 
bosses  and  lobbyists,  and  centralization  of  management, 
until  in  later  years  legislative  operations  were  found  to 
be  largely  influenced  by  a  big  municipal  boss  of  Mil 
waukee,  with  the  state  chairmen  of  the  two  great  politi- 
/  cal  parties  as  his  principal  lieutenants,  a  trio  whose 
*  union  was  bound  the  more  securely  by  a  "division  of 
spoils ' '  which  gave  each  the  headship  of  one  of  the  three 
principal  public  utility  monopolies  of  the  metropolis. 

Naturally  with  the  falling  off  of  the  forests,  the  lum 
bering  industry  could  not  be  expected  to  maintain  its 
'  prestige.  With  the  railroads  it  was  another  story ;  they 
would  grow  in  wealth  and  power,  and  the  consciousness 
of  this  fact  naturally  gave  thoughtful  people  pause  and 
turned  their  minds  to  the  necessity  ultimately  of  some 
regulation  of  the  agency  so  useful  in  the  public  service 
and  so  necessary  in  the  development  of  a  new  country, 
but  which  had  in  it  possibilities  of  greatest  menace  if 
not  administered  on  the  lines  of  strictest  justice  to  all 
the  people. 

It  was  said  to  have  been  the  boast  of  the  railroads  that 
no  legislation  unfavorable  to  them  had  been  enacted  for 


GRANGER  LEGISLATION  IN  WISCONSIN  37 

years  and  that  none  could  be  enacted  in  Wisconsin.  And 
this  doubtless  was  the  feeling  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  of  the  state  as  well.  The  proposition  of  railroad 
regulation,  for  instance,  required  years  of  education  Be 
fore  it  took  root  in  their  minds  as  a  practical  possibility. 
Forgetting  the  fact  that  the  railroads  derived  their  fran 
chises  from  th6  state  and  were  answerable  to  it  for  their 
conduct,  the  common  people  had  come  to  regard  them 
with  an  awe  that  bordered  almost  upon  superstition. 
They  were  practically  held  to  be  unassailable  institu 
tions.  Their  rights  were  supposed  to  be  superior,  not 
only  to  the  individual,  but  to  the  whole  public.  If  they 
chose  to  ride  roughshod  over  private  property  in  laying 
out  their  lines  it  was  regarded  as  futile  to  question  their 
right  or  think  of  redress.  They  were  greater  than  the 
state;  they  could  do  no  wrong;  all  apparent  injustices, 
the  discriminations  in  freight,  the  destruction  of  one 
town  for  the  upbuilding  of  another;  the  arrogance  of 
self-sufficient  service,  must  have  their  justification  some 
where;  must  in  some  scheme  incomprehensible  to  the 
lay  mind  redound  to  the  general  good.  The  theory  that 
the  state  could  grapple  with  these  mighty  interests ;  that 
it  had  any  business  to,  was  regarded  by  many  as  a  Quix 
otic  dream,  while  the  idea  that  anyone  outside  of  a  rail 
road  office  could  fathom  or  comprehend  their  extensive 
business,  their  methods  of  operation,  their  technicalities 
of  bookkeeping,  was  regarded  as  the  grossest  presump 
tion.  An  air  of  profound  mystery  surrounded  the  busi 
ness  and  made  the  task  which  later  administrations  pro 
posed  assume  mountain  proportions. 

The  first  serious  effort  at  anything  like  thoroughgoing 
regulation  of  the  railroads  came  with  the  historic 
granger  movement  and  the  advent  of  the  Taylor  admin 
istration  in  1874,  This  movement — brief  and  unique  as 
it  proved — was"  ito  be  most  significant  to  the  state  and 
nation  and  has  been  styled  ''the  unwritten  chapter  in 
the  so-called  story  of  Wisconsin." 


38  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Although  from  the  time  of  the  close  of  the  civil  war 
the  governors  of  Wisconsin,  in  their  messages  to  the 
legislatures,  had  called  attention  to  the  complaints  of 
the  people  over  the  oppression  of  the  railroads,  it  re 
mained  for  Governor  Taylor  to  take  up  the  question  of 
regulation  with  a  vigorous  hand.  Following  the  presen 
tation  of  his  message,  a  strong  and  unu'sual  paper  for 
the  time  and  in  which  he  pronounced  against  discrimina 
tions,  free  passes,  combinations  of  parallel  lines  and 
other  abuses,  the  legislature  enacted  in  the  face  of  a 
powerful  lobby,  the  so-called  " Potter  law,"  which  lim 
ited  passenger  rates,  classified  freight  and  regulated 
prices  for  its  transportation,  and  provided  for  a  railroad 
commission  of  three  members. 

A  tremendous  protest  went  up  from  the  railroads,  and 
the  press  under  their  influence,  at  this  act.  On  April 
29,  1874,  the  very  day  after  the  law  went  into  effect, 
formal  notices  were  served  on  Governor  Taylor  in  the 
executive  office  itself  by  Alexander  Mitchell,  president 
of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  railroad,  and  Al 
bert  Keep  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  company,  that 
their  roads  would  "disregard  so  much  of  the  law  as  at 
tempts  to  fix  an  arbitrary  rate  of  compensation  for 
freight  and  passengers. ' ' 

This  unparalleled  arrogance  of  the  officials  of  these 
great  corporations  created  a  profound  sensation.  Gov 
ernor  Taylor  promptly  issued  a  proclamation,  invoking 
the  aid  of  all  good  citizens,  and  announcing  that  he 
would  employ  the  full  power  of  the  state  to  enforce  com 
pliance  with  the  law. 

Proceedings  were  also  begun  in  the  supreme  court  to 
annul  the  charters  of  the  railroads  should  they  persist 
in  their  course,  and  injunctions  were  asked  to  restrain 
the  companies  from  disobeying  the  law.  In  the  litiga 
tion  following  the  state  found  itself  confronted  with  an 
array  of  legal  representatives  from  the  standpoint  of 


GRANGER  LEGISLATION  IN  WISCONSIN  39 

ability  and  reputation  never  before  matched  in  its  his 
tory,  including  such  men  as  W.  M.  Evarts  and  Charles 
O'Connor  of  New  York,  E.  Rockwell  Hoar  and  Benjamin 
R.  Curtis  of  Massachusetts.  The  contest  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  entire  nation.  Upon  the  result  in  Wis 
consin  depended  the  vitality  of  much  similar  legislation 
in  neighboring  states  and  Governor  Taylor  and  his  asso 
ciate  representatives  of  state  authority  were  thus  com 
pelled  to  bear  the  brunt  of  a  controversy  of  national  ex 
tent  and  consequence.  The  contention  extended  to  both 
state  and  federal  courts;  the  main  question  involved 
being  the  constitutional  power  of  the  state  over  corpora 
tions  of  its  own  creation. 

In  an  opinion  of  great  length  and  remarkable  power, 
written  by  Chief  Justice  Edward  G.  Ryan,  whom  Gov 
ernor  Taylor  had  recently  appointed,  the  state  was  on 
September  25  that  year  granted  the  injunction  sought. 
On  the  subject  of  corporation  regulation  Chief  Justice 
Ryan  said: 

"It  comports  with  the  dignity  and  safety  of  the  state 
that  the  franchises  of  corporations  should  be  subject  to 
the  power  that  grants  them,  that  corporations  should 
exist  as  the  subordinates  of  the  state  which  is  their 
creator. ' ' 

In  all  respects  the  state  was  fully  sustained  in  its  posi 
tion  and  ultimately  judgments  were  rendered  against 
the  corporations  in  all  the  state  and  federal  courts,  in 
cluding  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States,  estab 
lishing  finally  the  complete  and  absolute  power  of  the 
people,  through  the  legislature,  to  modify  or  altogether 
repeal  the  charters  of  corporations. 

But,  although  beaten  in  the  courts,  the  railroads  had 
another  recourse  for  retrieving  their  losses  and  making 
a  mockery  of  the  people's  will.    The  defeat  of  Governor 
Taylor  was  decreed  and  that  official,  bravely  as  he  had ' 
stood  for  the  people  and  the  laws,  was  subjected  to  un- 


40  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

measured  ridicule  and  abuse  by  a  large  proportion  of 
the  press  of  the  state,  then  so  mightily  influenced  by  the- 
railroads  through  the  potency  of  the  pass  and  other 
favors  which  also  Governor  Taylor  had  declared  against. 

Enormous  sums  of  money  were  spent  to  influence  pub 
lic  opinion.  Stories  were  invented  that  Governor  Tay 
lor  had  sought  with  paltry  sums  to  bribe  members  of  the 
legislature  to  support  his  legislation  and  in  derisive  ref 
erence  to  one  such  alleged  attempt  he  was  called  "Ten- 
Dollar  Bill. ' '  The  same  course  was  pursued  toward  the 
other  officials  who  took  a  stand  with  Governor  Taylor. 
United  States  Senator  Matt  H.  Carpenter,  who  gave  an 
opinion  fully  sustaining  the  Potter  law  long  before  the 
supreme  court  decision  came  down,  was  unmercifully 
denounced  as  "Matt,  the  Robber,"  "the  American  Karl 
Marx,"  etc. 

To  frighten  the  people  and  embarrass  the  administra 
tion,  the  railroads  stopped  work  on  the  lines  they  were 
building  and  otherwise  curtailed  their  activities. 

The  desired  effect  was  obtained.  A  sort  of  panic 
seized  upon  the  people,  i  ^The  result  of  all  this  was  that 
Governor  Taylor  was  defeated  by  a  narrow  vote,  he 
alone  of  his  ticket  being  beaten.  The  next  legislature 
repealed  the  Potter  law,  notwithstanding  that  it  had 
been  sustained  in  all  the  courts,  and  the  railways  thus 
again  established  their  supremacy. 

Not  only  was  Governor  Taylor  subjected  to  the  hu 
miliation  of  a  lone  defeat  for  daring  to  stand  firm  for 
popular  rights,  but  insult  was  added  to  injury.  In  a 
succeeding  legislature  a  resolution  was  derisively 
adopted  requesting  him  to  bring  back  an  old  wall  map 
of  the  state  which  had  hung  in  the  executive  office  and 
which  he  had  taken  with  him  to  his  farm  home  near 
Madison.  Here  was  irony,  indeed,  and  refinement  of 
persecution,  asking  the  fallen  champion  who  had  sought 
to'  save  the  people  their  millions  to  return  an  old  wall 


GRANGER  LEGISLATION  IN  WISCONSIN  41 

map.  To  Governor  Taylor's  credit,  be  it  said,  he  shamed 
his  mockers  by  himself  walking  into  the  executive  office 
and  returning  the  map  in  person. 

It  is  an  eloquent  commentary  on  the  conditions  then 
prevailing  that  the  railroads  were  thus  able  to  snatch  a 
victory  out  of  the  very  jaws  of  defeat.  The  easy  and 
blind  relinquishment  by  the  people  of  a  victory  complete 
at  every  point  proved  anew  the  great  power  the  railroads 
and  other  big  interests  had  acquired  and  pointed  the 
moral  that  follows  from  temporizing  or  compromising 
once  the  victory  has  been  won. 

It  had  its  other  lessons,  one  of  which  was  the  neces 
sity  of  wise  leadership,  and  the  importance  of  avoiding 
mistakes  to  retard  or  set  back  a  movement  once  under 
taken.  Governor  Taylor  was  a  strong  man  for  his  time. 
He  had  certain  excellent  qualities,  stubborn  honesty  and 
high  courage,  but  lacked  in  the  best  qualities  of  leader 
ship  and  had  other  limitations  that  kept  men  from  him. 
He  had  not  the  genius  to  fuse  the  variant,  disorganized 
support  he  first  received  into  an  effective  fighting  ma 
chine,  nor  had  he  the  constructive  ability  later  so  strik 
ingly  shown  by  LaFollette  in  a  similar  situation  in  build 
ing  his  reforms  wisely  and  well  upon  basic  essentials. 
So,  while  he  fought  his  good  fight  to  victory,  he  was  un 
able  to  make  secure  its  fruits,  and  the  "anti-railroad" 
movement  suffered  such  a  repudiation  and  setback  that 
it  took  thirty  years  to  regain  the  ground  he  had  won-— 
and  lost. 

Governor  Taylor  was  destined  to  outlive  his  brief  emi 
nence  for  three  decades,  and,  ere  he  died  friendless  and 
alone  in  a  charitable  institution,  was  to  witness  the  final 
vindication  of  his  course  and  the  practical  and  effective 
application  of  the  principles  he  had  helped  to  establish. 
This  was  finally  to  come  with  the  advent  of  the  LaFol 
lette  movement. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  LaFollette-Sawyer  Incident. 

SENSATIONAL  BREAK  DESTINED  TO  HAVE  IMPORTANT  LATER  RE 
SULTS — STATEMENTS  OF  SAWYER  AND  LAFOLLETTE  AS  TO  CAUSE  OF 
TROUBLE. 

ONE  day  in  the  fall  of  1891  the  people  of  the  state  were 
startled  to  learn  that  Judge  K.  G.  Siebecker  of  Madison 
had  announced  that  because  of  matters  that  had  come 
to  his  attention  he  could  not  try  the  so-called  treasury 
cases  which  were  scheduled  to  come  before  him. 

The  purpose  of  this  work  is  to  consider  but  a  decade 
of  the  political  history  of  the  state,  the  period  inclusive 
of  the  LaFollette  agitations  and  administrations,  but  as 
an  incident  leading  up  to  this  action  by  the  court  had  a 
profound  influence  and  bearing  on  the  man  and  the 
movement  that  followed  it  can  scarcely  be  disregarded 
in  anything  like  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  period. 

Marking  the  practical  entry  of  LaFollette  into  state 
politics,  and  involving  as  it  did  also  a  number  of  figures 
later  to  become  prominent  in  the  great  factional  strife, 
it  was  of  more  than  passing  significance.  This  incident 
was  the  break  between  United  States  Senator  Philetus 
Sawyer  of  Oshkosh  and  Mr.  LaFollette. 

Through  a  political  blunder  of  the  republican  legisla 
ture  in  enacting  the  so-called  Bennett  school  law,  which 
aroused  the  resentment  of  the  foreign-born  elements  of 
the  state,  the  democrats  had  slipped  into  power  in  1890. 
Anxious  to  make  a  record  for  efficiency  before  the  people, 
and  at  the  same  time  embarrass  the  opposition  party, 
the  democratic  administration  through  Attorney  General 
O'Connor  brought  suit  against  the  former  republican 


LAFOLLETTE-SAWYEB  INCIDENT  43 

state  treasurers  and  their  bondsmen  for  interest  on  state 
moneys  for  twenty  years  back,  which  in  the  easy  prac 
tices  of  the  times  the  treasurers  had  been  loaning  out  to 
favored  individuals  and  corporations  and  retaining  the 
interest. 

As  the  bondsmen  of  former  Treasurers  H.  B.  Har- 
shaw,  E.  C.  McFetridge  and  others,  Senator  Sawyer, 
Chas.  F.  Pfister  and  other  members  of  the  old  republican 
organization  would  be  liable  for  large  sums  were  the 
state  to  win  the  cases.  So  much  in  a  preliminary  way. 

The  Siebecker  announcement  caused  a  sensation.  In 
stinctively  the  public  concluded  some  tampering  had 
been  attempted  with  the  wheels  of  justice.  But  Sie 
becker  refused  to  talk.  Attempts  to  get  him  to  declare 
specifically  the  innocence  of  certain  interested  parties, 
that  through  the  process  of  elimination  the  truth  might 
be  thus  ascertained,  all  failed. 

The  newspapers  began  speculating.  October  25  the 
Chicago  Times  printed  a  startling  story  suggesting  the 
probability  of  attempted  bribery  in  the  Wisconsin  case 
and  stating  that  were  such  found  to  be  the  fact  the 
prison  doors  of  Wisconsin  might  yawn  for  some  people 
of  prominence.  Two  days  later  a  prepared  interview 
from  Senator  Sawyer  was  printed  in  the  Milwaukee  Sen 
tinel  and  the  big  mystery  which  had  agitated  legal  and 
political  circles  was  lifted. 

The  influence  or  motive  that  inspired  Sawyer  to  give 
out  the  interview  and  the  merits  of  the  quarrel  between 
the  two  men  have  been  subjects  of  much  controversy  and 
will  continue  to  be  as  long  as  any  interest  is  taken  in  the 
case.  For  the  benefit  of  the  present  day  reader  who  may 
have  such  interest  the  Sawyer  interview  and  the  one  by 
LaFollette  which  followed  are  herewith  reproduced.  The 
Sawyer  statement  follows : 

Some  time  about  the  20th  or  25th  of  September,~Mr.  Harshaw 
and  his  attorney,  Mr.  Felker,  asked  me  if  I  would  not  see  Mr.  La- 


44  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Follette  for  them  and  said  that  they  would  like  to  engage  me  in 
looking  up  certain  documents  and  to  attend  to  certain  matters  in 
the  treasury  cases  at  Madison.  They  also  wanted  to  learn  from 
Mr.  LaFollette  whether  Judge  Siebecker  was  prejudiced  against 
Mr.  Harshaw  on  account  of  the  latter 's  opposition  to  his  ( Sie 
becker  's)  appointment  as  judge.  I  was  coming  to  Milwaukee  to 
the  state  fair  and  I  telegraphed  Mr.  LaFollette,  asking  him  if  he 
would  meet  me  there.  He  answered  that  he  would.  I  saw  him 
at  the  Plankinton  house  and  told  him  what  Mr.  Harshaw  and 
Mr.  Felker  asked  me  to  do,  and  for  them  I  offered  him  a  retainer 
of  $500,  but  no  money  was  paid.  I  told  him  they  wanted  him  to 
look  up  certain  records  and  documents  at  Madison.  I  also  told 
him  they  were  anxious,  to  learn  whether  Judge  Siebecker  had 
any  prejudice  against  Mr.  Harshaw  for  the  reason  above.  Mr. 
LaFollette  said  that  Judge  Siebecker  was  a  fair-minded  man; 
'that  he  had  talked  with  him  on  the  subject  and  that  he  was  sure 
that  the  judge  would  not  let  the  fact  that  Harshaw  had  opposed 
his  appointment  have  any  weight  with  him  in  the  treasury  suit. 
I  told  Mr.  LaFollette  that  was  all  I  cared  to  know  on  that  sub 
ject,  that  he  had  given  me  all  the  information  I  wanted.  But 
Mr.  LaFollette  said  he  thought  it  would  not  be  advisable  for  him 
to  take  a  retainer,  as  Judge  Siebecker  was  his  brother-in-law.  I 
then  said  to  him  that  I  agreed  with  him,  that  it  was  not  proper 
and  it  was  the  first  I  knew  tiiat  they  were  brothers-in-law.  I  told 
him  that  if  he  was  employed  an  improper  construction  might 
be  put  upon  it  and  that  therefore  he  was  right  in  thinking  it  un- 
advisable  to  appear  in  the  cases.  If  I  had  known  he  was  a 
brother-in-law  of  Judge  Siebecker 's  I  wouldn't  have  proposed  it. 
I  can't  believe  that  Mr.  LaFollette  has  put  any  improper  in 
terpretation  upon  my  conversation  with  him.  If  he  has  he  has 
certainly  misunderstood  me  or  misconstrued  what  I  said.  At  the 
time  of  the  conversation  he  certainly  made  no  such  intimation  to 
me,  nor  can  I  believe  that  anything  I  said  to  Mr.  LaFollette  could 
be  construed  to  mean  that  I  sought  through  him  to  influence  the 
action  of  the  court.  Such  a  thing  never  entered  my  mind.  It  is 
impossible  also  for  me  to  think  that  my  conversation  with  Mr. 
LaFollette  is  the  basis  of  Judge  Siebecker 's  refusal  to  sit  in  the 
case.  I  think  there  must  be  something  else,  for  there  certainly 
was  nothing  in  the  conversation  I  have  referred  to  that  was  not 
perfectly  proper. 

LaFollette  felt  that  Sawyer's  dismissal  of  the  matter 
that  had  startled  the  whole  state  called  for  a  statement 


LAFOLLETTE-SAWYEII  INCIDENT  45 

from  him.  The  implied  charge  by  Sawyer's  friends  of 
megalomania  in  LaFollette  if  left  unchallenged  would 
leave  him  (LaFollette)  ridiculous.  It  was  a  critical  mo 
ment.  If  he  disputed  Sawyer's  explanation  it  meant 
war ;  and,  further,  if  not  complete,  ostracism  by  the  rul 
ing  party  powers;  misunderstanding  and  the  estrange 
ment  of  many  friends.  He  announced  his  intention  of 
replying  to  Sawyer.  His  friends,  however,  demurred  at 
this.  Nevertheless,  he  prepared  his  reply  and  took  it  to 
Horace  Rublee,  editor  of  the  Sentinel.  Rublee  also  ad 
vised  him  of  the  gravity  of  the  act,  not  only  to  himself 
(LaFollette)  ?nd  to  Sawyer,  but  to  the  party,  and  called 
in  his  friend,  Judge  Dyer,  attorney  for  the  Northwestern 
Life  Insurance  company.  After  hearing  the  interview, 
Dyer  is  reported  to  have  said : 

This  is  one  of  the  saddest  moments  of  my  life.  Sawyer  has 
been  an  old  friend  of  mine;  he  brought  about  my  appointment 
to  the  federal  bench.  This  will  mean  a  split  in  the  republican 
party  in  Wisconsin.  It  will  mean  ostracism  for  Mr.  LaFollette. 
But  (turning  to  Rublee)  you  must  print  the  interview. 

The  interview  was  printed.    It  read  as  follows : 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel: 

Madison,  Wis.,  Oct.  28. — The  publication  of  an  interview  with 
Senator  Sawyer  in  the  Sentinel  of  yesterday  was  first  seen  by  me 
in  Milwaukee  shortly  after  my  arrival  in  the  city  upon  business 
early  yesterday  morning.  The  interview  purported  to  make  public 
a  conversation  which  occurred  at  the  Plankinton'  house  in  Mil 
waukee  on  Thursday,  September  17,  between  Senator  Sawyer  and 
myself  concerning  my  employment  as  an  attorney  in  the  case  of 
the  State  of  Wisconsin  against  H.  B.  Harshaw,  Philetus  Sawyer 
and  others.  After  reading  the  interview  and  before  leaving  the 
city  I  ascertained  that  the  statement  was  authorized  by  Senator 
Sawyer. 

The  interview  was  a  false  one,  and  not  a  true  statement  of 
what  transpired '  and  I  can  not  remain  silent  and  permit  it  to 
stand  uncontradicted.  Today  I  requested  Judge  Siebecker's  sanc 
tion  to  speak  and  received  it.  After  his  announcement  in  declining 
to  try  the  case,  I  felt  bound  in  courtesy  as  an  attorney  and  officer 
of  his  court  to  respect  his  judgment  that  a  trial  should  first  be 


46  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

had.  But  the  conversation  as  Senator  Sawyer  details  it,  leaves 
me  no  choice  but  to  declare  the  facts  at  this  time  and  in  this 
manner. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  September  15  last,  I  received  a  letter 
from  Senator  Sawyer  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy: 

"Dictated: 

"Oshkosh,  Wis.,  Sept.  14,  1891.— Hon.  Robert  M.  LaFollette, 
Madison,  Wisconsin.  My  Dear  LaFollette:  I  will  be  in  Mil 
waukee  at  the  state  fair  on  Thursday.  I  have  some  matters  of 
importance  that  I  would  like  to  consult  you  about  that  escaped 
my  memory  yesterday.  If  convenient  can  you  be  in  Milwaukee 
on  that  day  and  meet  me  at  the  Plankinton  house  at  11  o'clock 
A.  MJ  If  not  on  that  day  what  day  would  suit  your  convenience 
this  week?  Please  answer  by  telegraph.  All  you  need  to  say  if 
you  can  meet  me  that  day  is  merely  telegraph  me  'Yes.'  If 
not,  simply  mention  day  you  can  meet  me.  Yours  truly, 

"PHILETUS   SAWYER." 

The  letter  was  typewritten  upon  a  single  page  of  office  paper, 
letter  size.  The  top  part  of  the  sheet  was  torn  off,  leaving  only 
the  printed  words,  "Dictated,  Oshkosh,  Wis."  The  reference  in 
the  letter  to  Mr.  Sawyer's  having  seen  me  the  day  before  it  was 
written  related  to  our  having  met  on  Sunday,  the  13th  of  Sep 
tember,  at  Neenah,  Wis.,  on  the  occasion  of  the  funeral  of  Hon. 
Chas.  B.  Clark.  At  that  time  I  met  Mr.  Sawyer  between  one  and 
two  o'clock  just  as  we  took  a  carriage,  together  with  Hon.  N.  D. 
Fratt  and  Hon.  L.  B.  Caswell,  to  go  from  the  hotel  to  the  resi 
dence  of  Mr.  Clark.  From  the  residence  we  went  immediately  after 
the  services  at  the  house,  by  the  same  conveyance  to  the  cemetery, 
and  on  the  return  Mr.  Sawyer  left  us  at  the  depot  to  take  the 
train  for  Oshkosh. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  day  upon  which  I  received  the 
letter  I  wired  to  Sawyer,  ' '  Yes, ' '  and  on  Thursday  went  to  Mil 
waukee  and  found  him  awaiting  me  at  the  Plankinton  house. 

He  said :  "I  have  no  room ;  could  not  get  one ;  they  are  so 
crowded,  but  come  up  to  the  parlor.  I  think  we  can  talk  there. ' ' 
I  went  with  him  to  the  parlor  on  the  second  floor.  It  is  a  large 
room.  There  were  two  or  three  occupants  sitting  near  the  entrance 
when  we  went  in.  I  did  not  observe  them  afterward,  but  believe 
there  was  no  one  in  the  room  but  Mr.  Sawyer  when  I  left  it. 
When  we  entered  he  led  the  way  to  the  corner  of  the  room  most 
remote  from  the  entrance,  where  we  sat  down  near  each  other. 
He  began  by  saying:  "I  have  put  you  to  some  trouble  and  ex- 


LAFOLLETTE-SAWYER  INCIDENT  47 

pense  to  meet  me  here,  Mr.  LaFollette,  but  I  wanted  to  see  you 
bad." 

I  replied:     "It  is  a  matter  of  no  consequence." 

He  said :  "I  asked  you  to  come  here  because  I  want  to  talk 
with  you  about  Siebecker  and  the  treasury  matter.  Harshaw  has 
made  such  a  fool  of  himself  in  the  newspapers  and  besides  that 
he  opposed  the  appointment  of  Siebecker  as  judge." 

I  interrupted  to  say:  "There  is  not  the  slightest  reason  to 
give  that  a  thought. ' '  The  newspaper  interview  in  which  Harshaw 
said  that  Siebecker  was  the  only  judge  in  the  state  that  he  would 
not  be  willing  to  have  decide  his  case,  was  published  some  time 
before  any  case  was  commenced,  prior  to  the  service  of  any  papers. 
I  said  to  Siebecker :  "I  think  Harshaw  was  not  himself  when  that 
interview  was  published,  and  if  he  was  it  was  probably  due  to 
some  irritation  which  existed  in  his  mind  toward  me  at  about  that 
time  owing  to  the  removal  of  one  of  his  friends  from  office  on  my 
recommendation  and  his  remembrance  of  our  relationship  in  that 
connection.  Of  course,  it  will  make  no  impression  upon  you." 
Siebecker  said:  "Certainly  not.  I  never  knew  Colonel  Harshaw 
personally  in  my  life  and  there  is  no  reason  why  I  should  pay  any 
attention  whatever  to  such  a  printed  statement."  That  is  the 
only  conversation  I  have  had  with  Siebecker  in  reference  to  these 
cases  or  anything  connected  with  them.  As  to  Harshaw 's  oppos 
ing  his  appointment  as  judge,  I  never  heard  of  it  and  don't  be 
lieve  Siebecker  ever  did  and  it  would  make  no  difference  to  him 
anyway.  He  is  not  that  kind  of  a  man." 

Mr.  Sawyer  replied :  ' '  Well,  he  did  oppose  his  appointment.  Of 
course,  I  did  not  know  whether  Siebecker  knew  it  or  not.  I  don't 
know  Siebecker,  don't  think  I  ever  saw  him  in  my  life.  But  I 
want  to  know  what  kind  of  a  man  he  is. ' ' 

"Well,  Mr.  Sawyer,"  I  said,  "you  know  Judge  Siebecker  is 
my  brother-in-law,  that  he  was  formerly  my  law  partner  and  you 
are  likely  to  get  a  somewhat  biased  opinion  from  me;  but  I  will 
try  to  say  for  him  only  what  I  think  any  attorney  of  Madison  would 
say.  He  is  a  young  man  but  a  strong  lawyer.  He  has  had  but  a 
limited  experience  as  judge.  Since  he  has  been  on  the  bench  he 
has  made  some  mistakes,  maybe  more  than  his  share,  but  I  think 
not.  He  is  a  close  student  and  does  lots  of  hard  work  on  his 
cases.  He  is  a  liberal-minded  man,  has  a  judicial  temperament, 
and  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  be  a  partisan  politically  or  other 
wise  and  everyone  who  knows  him  will  tell  you  that  he  is  an 
honest  man.  Now  I  don't  believe  there  is  a  man  at  the  bar  in 


48  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Madison,  Judge  Pinney,  who  I  believe  is  one  of  your  attorneys, 
or  anyone  else,  who  wouldn  't  say  as  much  as  that  of  him. ' ' 

Mr.  Sawyer  said:  "Pinney  was  employed  by  us  to  give  an 
opinion  in  the  case  but  I  knew  you  would  know  all  about  Siebecker 
and  I  wanted  to  see  you  about  him.  These  cases  are  awful  im 
portant  to  us  in  the  state  and  we  can  not  afford  to  lose  them.  It 
costs  me  lots  of  anxiety.  I  don't  want  to  have  to  pay  (naming  a 
large  sum  of  money,  whether  $100,000  or  more  I  am  not  certain). 
Now  I  came  down  here  to  see  you  alone.  No  one  knows  I  am  to 
meet  you  here.  I  don't  want  to  hire  you  as  an  attorney  in  the 
case,  LaFollette,  and  I  don't  want  you  to  go  into  court,  but  there 
is  fifty  dollars,  I  will  give  you  five  hundred  more,  or  a  thousand, 
or  five  hundred  more  and  a  thousand  (I  am  not  certain  which  he 
said)  when  Siebecker  decides  the  case  right." 

I  said  to  him :  { '  Senator  Sawyer,  you  can 't  know  what  you 
are  saying  to  me.  If  you  struck  me  in  the  face  you  would  not 
insult  me  as  you  insult  me  now. ' ' 

He  said:  "Wait — hold  on."  I  was  standing  up.  I  replied: 
"No,  you  do  not  want  me  as  an  attorney.  You  want  to  hire  me 
to  talk  to  the  judge  about  your  case  off  the  bench." 

He  said:  "I  did  not  think  you  would  take  a  retainer  in  the 
case.  I  did  not  think  you  would  want  to  go  into  the  case  as  an 
attorney.  How  much  will  you  take  as  a  retainer?" 

I  answered:  "You  have  not  got  money  enough,  sir,  to  em 
ploy  me  as  an  attorney  in  your  case,  after  what  you  have  said  to 
me." 

He  replied:  "Well,  perhaps  I  don't  understand  court  rules. 
Anyway  let  me  pay  you  for  coming  down  here." 

I  said:  "Not  a  dollar,  sir,"  and  immediately  left  the  room. 
I  think  he  followed  me  out  •  of  the  parlor  and  down  the  stairs ; 
but  he  did  not  again  address  me,  nor  did  I  again  speak  to  him. 
I  passed  at  once  out  of  the  hotel. 

I  did  not  make  these  facts  public,  believing  that  innocent  de 
fendants  would  suffer  without  cause.  I  immediately  disclosed  just 
what  had  taken  place  to  close  personal  friends  and  stated  to  them 
that  I  believed  it  my  duty  to  report  the  matter  to  the  court  before 
the  case  was  called  for  trial.  In  this  I  did  not  act  without  de 
liberation,  nor  without  wise  counsel.  I  subsequently  submitted  a 
full  statement  to  the  court  a  few  days  before  he  announced  his 
determination  not  to  try  the  case. 

Very  respectfully, 

ROBERT  M.  LAFOLLETTE. 


LAFOLLETTE-SAWYEB  INCIDENT  49 

If  the  Sawyer  interview  proved  startling  the  LaFol- 
lette  reply  directly  charging  Senator  Sawyer  with  at 
tempted  bribery  proved  even  more  so,  and  the  criticism 
and  denunciation  which  LaFollette  and  friends  feared 
he  had  invited  descended  upon  his  head.  A  half  dozen 
years  later  the  Milwaukee  Journal  in  an  editorial  depre 
cating  the  fight  certain  papers  were  making  on  LaFol 
lette  for  opposing  the  ruling  political  regime  said  of  the 
incident : 

^Everybody  knows  that  LaFollette  is  not  the  aggressor,  but 
that  he  was  selected  for  slaughter  when  he  refused  to  carry  out 
the  wishes  of  the  party  boss  in  the  treasury  cases.  For  a  time  it 
appeared  that  the  Madison  man's  career  had  been  ruined.  In 
looking  over  the  files  of  the  republican  press  of  that  day,  we  find 
that  with  hardly  an  exception  LaFollette  was  condemned  in  un 
measured  terms  by  the  organs.  All  kinds  of  accusations  were 
made  against  him  as  if  he,  instead  of  the  boss,  were  the  guilty  one. 
It  was  freely  charged  that  the  Madison  man  was  getting  ready  to 
go  over  to  the  democratic  party,  and  that  he  had  already  made 
his  arrangements  with  the  opposition.  Hardly  a  republican  news 
paper  in  the  state  had  one  kind  word  to  say  of  him  for  his  heroic 
defense  of  his  honor.  But  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party  under 
stood  the  service  LaFollette  had  done  them  and  all  the  other  tax 
payers  of  Wisconsin  by  refusing  a  price  for  trying  to  unlock  the 
back  door  of  a  court  of  justice,  and  they  did  not  forget  him.  It 
was  as  certain  as  that  the  sun  would  shine  that  he  would  sooner 
or  later  be  called  to  leadership.  The  Journal  warned  the  organs 
then  that  such  a  time  would  come.  It  is  here,  and  the  condition 
of  things  cannot  be  changed  by  alleging  that  he  is  making  fac 
tional  warfare.  He  is  but  the  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the 
justice-loving  members  of  the  party.  The  bosses  see  the  hand 
writing  on  the  wall  and  that  is  why  they  tried  to  buy  him  off  with 
the  comptrollership  of  the  currency.  Twice  now  LaFollette  has 
refused  to  sell  himself.  May  lie  continue  to  fight  off  infamy. 

LaFollette  felt  keenly  the  criticism  visited  upon  him. 
Many  of  Irs  friends  questioned  the  wisdom  of  his  course. 
Prof.  W.  H.  Williams  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin 
voiced  the  views  of  many  when  he  said:  "He  has  at 
tempted  a  big  thing  in  inviting  a  question  of  veracity 
with  so  mighty  a  man  as  Sawyer.  He'll  need  all  his 


50  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

nerve  now. ' '  Many  former  friends  treated  him  with  un 
mistakably  more  reserve  than  usual;  others  ostracised 
him  completely. 

For  the  time  being  the  controversy  ended,  and  La- 
Follette  devoted  himself  wholly  to  his  law  cases.  Finally, 
threatened  with  nervous  breakdown,  he  went  to  South 
Dakota,  where  he  owned  some  land,  and  for  three  months 
built  up  his  health  with  outdoor  work. 


CHAPTER  IV 
The  Haugen  Candidacy  for  Governor. 

LAFOLLETTE  ORGANIZES  REVOLT  AGAINST  OLD  PARTY  LEADERS — 
REVEALS  ASTONISHING  ORGANIZING  CAPACITY — FIRST  BIG  CLASH 
OF  REPUBLICAN  FACTIONS — UPHAM  NOMINATED — NEW  LEADER  AT 
TRACTS  MARKED  ATTENTION. 

JL/ITTLE  by  little  a  feud  had  sprung  up  between  La- 
Follette  and  the  managers  of  the  republican  state  or 
ganization.  As  a  member  of  the  house,  the  young  con 
gressman  had  proved  unwilling  to  take  directions  from 
Payne,  Sawyer  and  other  leaders  of  the  party  to  whom 
it  was  customary  to  pay  deference.  Now  his  refusal  to 
protect  the  secrets  and  feelings  of  Sawyer  in  the  treas 
ury  matter  was  considered  unpardonable  by  the  party 
managers  and  it  was  decided  to  complete  the  overthrow 
of  his  defeat  for  congress  by  eliminating  him  from  any 
position  of  influence  in  the  party. 

In  accordance  with  this  program,  the  party  machhjery 
of  Dane  county,  which  he,  as  a  member  of  congress,  had 
grown  to  control,  was  in  1892  taken  out  of  the  hands  of 
his  friends  and  the  chairmanship  given  to  Koger  C. 
Spooner,  a  brother  of  Senator  John  C.  Spooner.  LaFol- 
lette's  last  ground  was  captured.  He  was  completely 
outside  the  breastworks.  When  he  attended  the  repub 
lican  national  convention  at  Minneapolis  as  a  spectator 
with  his  friend  S.  A.  Harper,  in  1892,  he  was  made  to 
feel  by  the  state  politicians  present  that  he  was  to  enjoy 
no  confidences  nor  be  considered  in  the  making  of  any 
arrangements  for  the  campaign. 

In  previous  campaigns  he  had  been  eagerly  sought  by 
party  chairmen  to  speak  throughout  the  state  and  al 
though  the  new  state  chairman  of  that  year,  Henry  C. 
Thorn,  was  his  personal  friend,  LaFollette  received  no 


52  LAFOLLETTE' S   WINNING    OF   WISCONSIN 

invitation  to  assist  in  the  campaign  that  fall,  notwith 
standing  that  it  was  a  presidential  year  and  a  critical 
time  for  the  party. 

Resolved,  however,  to  maintain  himself  as  a  political 
factor,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Thorn  offering  his  services.  Mr. 
Thorn  soon  afterward  called  upon  LaFollette  at  his  office 
and  said  he  had  been  advised  to  not  put  him  in  the  field, 
owing  to  the  feeling  against  him.  Thereupon  LaFollette 
promptly  declared  that  he  would  make  his  own  arrange 
ments.  Rather  than  have  that  done,  Chairman  Thorn 
placed  him  on  the  list  of  speakers  and  his  meetings 
proved  the  usual  great  successes. 

LaFollette  saw  that  to  live  in  Wisconsin  politics  it 
would*  be  necessary  to  make  peace  with  the  party  ma 
chine  or  make  war  upon  it.  Burning  with  his  still  un- 
quenched,  youthful  enthusiasm;  indignant  at  the  ostra 
cism  and  censure  visited  upon  him  because  of  the  Saw 
yer  affair ;  confident  of  his  powers,  and  eager  to  remedy 
in  some  degree  the  sordid  political  conditions  prevailing, 
he  resolved  upon  the  latter  course.  His  design  was  no 
less  than  the  ambitious  one  of  taking  the  governorship 
out'of  the  hands  of  the  "machine." 

LaFollette  seemed  peculiarly  called  and  fitted  to  lead 
and  carry  through  successfully  a  reform  movement  in 
the  state,  not  only  because  of  his  great  native  talent  and 
qualities,  but  because  of  the  abrupt  turn  in  his  personal 
fortunes  caused  by  his  defeat  for  congress  in  1890.  Now 
scarcely  across  the  threshold  of  teeming  manhood,  and 
burning  for  achievement,  he  was  relegated  to  the  state 
field  through  an  election  defeat,  followed  by  a  gerry 
mander  of  his  district  to  prevent  his  return  to  congress. 

It  is  an  interesting  subject  of  speculation  as  to  whether 
or  not  the  reform  movement  in  Wisconsin  would  have 
materialized  into  success,  or  the  form  and  time  it  would 
have  taken,  had  LaFollette  retained  his  seat  in  congress. 
A  period  of  purely  state  service  was  not  in  the  schedule 


THE  HAUGEN  CANDIDACY  TOR  GOVERNOR  53 

of  his  admiring  friends,  who  saw  in  perspective  a  dis 
tinguished  career  for  him  in  the  United  States  senate, 
little  dreaming  of  the  tremendous  upheaval  he  was  to 
bring  about  in  the  state  before  being  consigned  to  that 
somewhat  archaic  limbo  of  high  abilities  and  political 
hopes  at  Washington. 

Events  seemed  to  have  conspired,  however,  to  bring 
him  into  the  new  field  and  accordingly  early  in  1894  he 
signalized  his  return  to  active  politics  by  standing  spon 
sor  for  the  candidacy  of  Nils  P.  Haug-en_for  governor. 
As  usual  he  had  taken  time  by  the  forelock.  In  Novem 
ber,  1893,  he  wrote  to  Congressman  Haugen  asking  him 
to  call  at  Madison  on  his  way  to  Washington.  When 
Haugen  came  LaFollette  broached  to  him  the  proposi 
tion  of  a  fight  upon  the  organization  with  Haugen  as  the 
candidate  for  governor.  Haugen  represented  the  old 
Eighth  Wisconsin  district  in  congress  and  was  the  only 
republican  member  to  withstand  the  democratic  land 
slide  of  1890.  Mr.  LaFollette  had  served  with  him  in" 
congress  and  had  conic  1<>  regard  him  highly  because  of 
his  large  abilities  and  his  patriotic  and  fearless  stand  for 
public  interests.  A  popular  and  brilliant  representative 
of  the  Norwegian  nationality,  a  strong  vote-getter  and 
a  public  official  with  an  excellent  record,  he  was  believed 
to  be  the  most  effective  candidate  with  which  to  assault 
the  intrenchments  of  the  ruling  powers. 

When  the  gubernatorial  proposition  was  first  sug 
gested,  Haugen  pointed  out  the  apparent  hopelessness 
of  the  undertaking,  the  lack  of  funds,  the  power  of  the 
organization,  etc.  However,  he  consented  to  let  LaFol 
lette  write  to  the  latter 's  old  university  friends  and 
others  to  ascertain  their  sentiments  in  the  matter.  La 
Follette  sent  about  a  thousand  letters  to  such  friends 
throughout  the  state  asking  them  to  join  in  requesting 
Haugen  to  ru«i.  Afterward  Haugen  met  LaFollette  at 
Chicago  and  they  spent  a  day  at  the  Grand  Pacific  hotel 


54  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

going  over  the  letters.  The  responses  were  quite  en 
couraging  and  after  another  conference  at  the  LaFollette 
home  in  Madison,  attended  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  LaFollette, 
Mr.  Haugen,  S.  A.  Harper,  General  George  E.  Bryant 
and  H.  W.  Chynoweth,  Haugen  consented  to  sacrifice 
his  congressional  prospects  and  make  the  run.  There 
was  no  illusion  about  it.  "It  will  probably  mean  the 
loss  of  your  seat  in  congress  and  your  defeat  in  the  con 
vention,  ' '  said  LaFollette,  ' '  but  the  cause  demands  some 
sacrifice  on  our  part;  and  there  is  a  half  chance  to  win/' 
LaFollette  agreed,  to  take  all  responsibility  in  the  man 
agement  of  the  campaign  and  to  make  it  a  vigorous  one. 

The  campaign  that  followed  is  an  interesting  chapter 
in  the  story  of  LaFollette,  for  he  was  here  to  reveal  for 
the  first  time  on  a  broad  scale  his  variability  of  genius 
as  a  winner  and  organizer  of  men — that  native  endow 
ment  by  which  he  was  to  rise  from  the  lowest  point,  fol 
lowing  his  humiliation  by  the  party  leaders,  to  be  the 
great  commanding  figure  of  the  state,  and  the  beginning 
of  which  ascendancy  he  had  to  make  without  money  or 
patronage  at  his  disposal,  without  a  newspaper  and  with 
out  social  or  political  alliances  of  influence. 

The  brightest  figure  in  all  history  is  the  revolutionist 
—the  leader  willing  to  risk  his  all  in  the  great  cause  to 
make  over  the  world  for  humanity. 

There  was  about  LaFollette  even  then  a  persuasive 
hypnotic  power  which  it  was  difficult  to  resist.  Mr.  Len- 
root  said  in  later  years :  "I  did  not  want  to  be  a  candi 
date  .for  governor  in  1906,  but  when  LaFollette  asked 
me,  how  could  I  refuse  ? "  It  was  a  characteristic  tribute. 
Of  LaFollette,  more  than  of  most  public  men,  can  it  be 
said  that  he  increased  his  social  and  political  assets  with 
each  new  meeting  with  a  fellow  man.  The  words  of 
Count  de  Segur  on  Napoleon 's  charm  of  manner  may  be 
here  recalled  as  not  inaptly  fitting  the* later  political 
general  now  rising: 


THE  HAUGEN  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR  55 

When  he  wanted  to  persuade  there  was  a  kind  of  charm  in 
his  deportment  which  it  was  impossible  to  resist.  One  felt  over 
powered  by  his  superior  strength,  and  compelled,  as  it  were,  to 
submit  to  his  influence.  It  was,  if  it  may  be  so  explained,  a  kind 
of  magnetic  influence,  for  his  ardent  and  variable  genius  infused 
itself  entirely  into  all  his  desires,  the  least  as  well  as  the  greatest  ; 
whatever  he  willed)  all  his  energies  and  all  his  faculties  united  to 
effect;  they  appeared  at  his  beck,  they  hastened  forward  and 
obedient  to  his  dictation,  simultaneously  assumed  the  forms  which 
he  desired. 

It  has  been  a  serious  question  with  many  people 
whether  or  not,  at  least  in  its  first  years,  the  LaFollette  \ 
reform  movement  was  inspired  by  any  other  motive  than 
the  personal  ambition  of  LaFollette.  But  to  whatever 
degree  his  personal  ambitions  were  the  inspiration  of 
the  uprising,  it  must  be  said  he  had  a  remarkable  facil 
ity  or  fortune  in  making  himself  and  his  cause  inter 
changeable  in  the  public  mind,  making  it  possible  for 
him  to  press  his  propaganda  while/  his  friends  rather 
urged  support  of  the  man. 

A  flood  of  stories  and  yarns  has  come  down  from  this 
interesting  period  and  the  years  immediately  following, 
showing  the  compelling  enthusiasm  with  which  he  drove 
forward  his  cause,  and  revealing  a  facile  personality  to 
explain  in  large  degree  the  sway  he  exercised  over  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  his  almost  idolatrous  fellows^ 

It  is  an  interesting  if  not  significant  fact  that  LaFol 
lette  's  propaganda  first  took  root,  and  his  cause  received  , 
its  first  substantial  support,  among  the  Norwegians  of 
He  waS  UlliBwQ  yilUU^h  early  io  get  the  sup 


port  of  the  widely  read  Chicago  Norwegian  paper 
"Skandinaven."  .That  his  dashing  effort  to  secure,  the 
election  of  Congressman  Haugen  as  governor  strength 
ened  him  immensely  with  the  nationality  is  not  to  be 
doubted,  but  LaFollette  has  always  been  close  to  the 
Norwegian  heart,  for  the  reason  that  he  understands  and 
appreciates"  it  as  do  few  politicians  and  students  even 
within  the  nationality.  He  was  brought  up  in  a  Nor- 


56  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

wegian  community ;  he  can  to  an  extent  speak  the  tongue, 
and  with  an  almost  faultless  accent;  in  short,  he  knows 
the  Norwegian  nature  and  temper.  This  kinship  of  feel 
ing  was  strikingly  reciprocated  in  the  later  campaign  of 
1900  when  out  of  241  votes  cast  in  the  town  of  Scandi 
navia  in  Waupaca  county,  LaFollette  received  all  but  * 
one,  a  phenomenon  deserving  to  rank  with  that  of  1910 
r — when  the  republicans  of  Wisconsin  actually  nominated 
a  dead  progressive  above  a  living  rival  for  one  of  the 
highest  of  state  offices.  A  further  and  not  unamusing 
incident  may  be  here  recalled.  At  a  banquet  of  the 
-.Scandinavian  legislators  in  Madison  in  1901  the  gov 
ernor  was  present  as  a  guest,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
evening  was  playfully  informed  that  he  was  suspected 
of  possessing  Norwegian  blood.  Prof.  Julius  E.  Olson 
was  speaking  and  related  the  inspiring  story  of  the  bat 
tle  of  Stiklestad,  in  Norway,  in  1030,  where  the  old  and 
the  new  civilizations — paganism  and  Christianity — met 
and  where  Tord  Folleson,  the  heroic  standard  bearer  of 
the  new  cause,  when  mortally  wounded,  pressed  forward 
with  the  flag  and  rammed  it  into  the  earth  before  sinking 
to  death  beneath  it.  Not  long  before,  said  the  speaker,  the 
northmen  had  descended  upon  France,  wrested  a  fair 
province  from  its  weak  ruler  and  built  up  that  Norman 
influence  destined  to  color  all  future  civilization.  The 
names  Folleson  and  LaFollette,  he  said,  looked  suspi 
ciously  alike.  What  was  more  natural  to  infer  than  that 
the  governor's  forbears  may  have  been  among  that  dar 
ing  band  of  adventurers  and  institution  builders,  the 
Normans  ?  Blood  would  tell  even  longer.  Tord  Folleson 
determined  that  the  flag  should  stand  even  if  the  man 
had  to  fall.  So  with  the  gover nor ;  he,  too,  could  be  re 
lied  upon  to  advance  the  flag  even  if  he  fell  beneath  it. 
(Great  applause  and  cries  of  "Skaal!") 

But  there  is  another  important  factor  to  consider  in 
this  connection — the  Norwegian  love  of  liberty.     Ever 


THE  HAUGEN  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR  57 

since  the  grim  bonders  of  Throndhjem  compelled  King 
Haakon  to  eat  horseflesh  and  showed  their  contempt  of 
another  tyrannical  prince  by  slaying  him  and  electing 
his  dog  to  the  throne,  the  Norwegian  peasant  has  been 
jealous  of  the  encroachments  of  privilege  and  power  on 
his  rights.  Having  long  enjoyed  a  liberal  representative 
form  of  government,  the  nationality  is  also  keenly  alive 
to  its  civic  responsibilities  and  familiar  with  the  opera 
tions  of  government.  In  fact  a  large  proportion  of  the 
immigrants  from  Norway  have  determined  before  "com 
ing  over ' '  with  what  political  party  they  intend  to  affili 
ate.  This  fact  combined  with  its  inherited  love  of  lib 
erty  would  tend  to  make  the  nationality  favorable 
ground  for  sowing  the  seeds  of  revolt  against  privilege 
in  government.  The  Norwegian  uprisjng  in  Wisconsin 
a  decade  and  a  half  ago  is  not  unlike  that  which  swept 
Norway  three  quarters  of  a  century  ago  and  which  re 
sulted  in  the  driving  out  of  an  oppressive  official  class — 
an  inheritance  from  the  Danish  union — and  the  substi 
tuting  of  peasant  members  of  parliament,  some  of  whom, 
like  Ueland  and  Jaabek,  "wrought  their  people  lasting-" 
good."  In  this  connection,  as  has  been  noted,  LaFol- 
lette  was  fortunate  in  his  early  campaigns  in  having  the 
support  of  the  big  Norwegian  papers  circulating  in  Wis 
consin,  like  the  Skandinaven  of  Chicago,  and  the  Tidende- --> 
of  Minneapolis.  The  Skandinaven  was  won  over  to  La- 
Follette  in  1900  by  a  delegation  which  included  former 
Congressman  Haugen,  John  L.  Erickson  of  Superior  and 
others.  It  is  said  that  when  this  delegation  went  into 
the  office  to  see  John  Anderson,  the  publisher  of  the 
Skandinaven,  they  met  Henry  C.  Payne  of  Milwaukee 
coming  out  from  a  like  conference  with  Anderson  with  a 
view  of  lining  up  the  paper  against  LaFollette.  When 
this  latter  delegation,  however,  informed  Anderson  that 
the  Norwegians  of  Wisconsin  were  pro-LaFollette  and 
that  the  Minneapolis  Tidende  was  making  capital  of  that 


58  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

fact  Anderson  threw  the  support  of  his  paper  to  LaFol- 
lette  and  continued  to  support  him  in  all  his  campaigns 
for  the  governorship. 

In  1906,  however,  it  was  a  different  story.  It  is  said 
that  Anderson  promised  LaFollette  and  Lenroot  that 
he  would  support  the  latter  in  his  campaign  for  governor 
as  against  J.  0.  Davidson,  the  so-called  Norwegian  can 
didate,  and  that  only  on  that  condition  would  Lenroot 
consent  to  make  the  race.  Then  it  is  said  that  Anderson 
sent  out  a  number  of  letters  as  "feelers,"  and  found 
that  the  Lenroot  candidacy  would  not  take  among  the 
Norwegians  on  account  of  the  temporary  anti-Swedish 
sentiment  growing  out  of  the  dissolution  of  the  union 
of  Sweden  and  Norway  of  the  year  before.  Accordingly 
the  Skandinaven  remained  largely  neutral  through 
out  this  campaign,  only  occasionally  damning  Lenroot 
with  faint  praise,  and  Davidson  was  nominated. 

Although  the  so-called  Germans  of  Wisconsin  form  a 
very  heavy  voting  element,  they  have  not  been  so  potent 
a  political  factor  as  have  the  Norwegians  so-called.  In 
spite  of  the  fact,  too,  that  many  of  them  came  here  as 
exiles,  imbued  with  the  revolutionary  spirit  of  '48,  La 
Follette 's  cause  made  slow  headway  with  them  at  first. 
It  was  not  that  they  were  a  servile  class,  although,  being 
more  accustomed  to  tyranny  than  the  Norwegians,  they 
could  bear  a  degree  of  villeinage  with  less  unrest.  The 
German  is  as  jealous  of  his  rights  as  is  the  Norwegian, 
but  the  conception  of  liberty  is  different  in  the  two 
minds.  The  Norwegian  watches  his  political  liberty 
jealously,  the  German,  his  personal  liberty.  The 
summum  bonum  in  the  German  mind  has  too  often  been 
"personal  liberty,"  and  the  possible  deprivation  of  this 
right  has  been  the  bugaboo  which  the  shrewd  politician 
has  often  conjured  up  to  "swing  the  German  vote." 

It  was  not  until  time  had  proved  that  LaFollette 's 
crusade  did  not  comprehend  designs  on  this  cherished 


THE  HAUGEN  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR  (59 

right — and  the  German  language — that  they  came  over 
to  the  support  of  the  movement.  Once  over,  however, 
they  became  a  bulwark  of  strength  to  it,  as  demonstrated 
in  the  Milwaukee  movement  in  1898. 


One  day  LaFollette  was  visited  by  a  man  who  had 
stumped  the  entire  west  in  the  interests  of  the  people's 
party  and  who  had  been  one  of  the  ''intellectuals"  in 
the  first  Oregon  movement  in  the  '90s.  Said  the 
stranger : 

' '  Our  movement  has  gone  down ;  I  am  a  man  without 
a  party." 

'  *  The  time  for  great  souls  is  when  all  is  lost.  You  be 
long  with  us, ' '  said  LaFollette. 

"But  I  believe  in  the  initiative  and  the  referendum. 
Can  I  be  a  republican  and  hold  such  views?" 

"You  can;  I  believe  in  them  myself." 

"I  am  also  for  the  popular  election  of  senators." 

"So  am  I." 

"I  also  favor  government  ownership  and  control  of 
railroads. ' ' 

'  *  We  may  have  to  come  to  that :  but  we  must  first  ob 
tain  and  try  railroad  regulation.  If  that  fails  the  people 
will  no  doubt  take  over  their  common  carriers." 

' '  But  I  am  against  monopoly-breeding  tariffs,  although 
I  am  a  protectionist.  Can  I  hold  such  views  and  still 
be  a  republican?" 

"I  am  also  a  protectionist,  but  favor  a  tariff  that,  in 
general,  shall  measure  the  difference  between  the  cost  of 
production  at  home  and  in  competing  foreign  countries. ' ' 

1 '  I  had  not  thought  of  tariff  legislation  in  that  light, ' ' 
said  the  visitor.  "If  I  can  be  that  kind  of  a  republican 
I  am  with  you.  I  am  happy  to  again  take  up  the  fight. ' ' 


60  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

4  LaFollette  has  been  ever  ready  to  give  with  regal  free 
dom  of  his  time  and  the  riches  of  his  mind  whenever 
anyone  has  sought  his  counsel.  For  instance,  until  the 
time  of  his  election  to  the  United  States  senate  he  regu 
larly  drilled  university  oratorical  contestants  free  of 
charge.  The  writer  recalls  vividly  also  how  when  an 
obscure  student  in  the  university  he  called  at  the  law 
office  of  the  future  governor  and  how  the  latter  spent 
two  or  three  hours — forgetting  his  supper  in  the  mean 
time — in  presenting  the  necessity  for,  and  outlining 
with  large  forevision,  the  reforms  to  which  he  was  re 
solving  to  set  his  hand  and  which  in  the  main  have  since 
been  crystallized  into  law  in  the  state  and  are  now  being 
adopted  in  the  nation.  It  was  a  great  task  for  which  he 
was  preparing  to  gird  on  his  armor  and  to  the  writer  the 
undertaking  seemed  akin  to  the  wildest  of  dreams,  but 
of  his  absolute  sincerity  and  the  disinterestedness  of  his 
motives  there  seemed  no  room  for  doubt. 
<t  The  devotion  which  LaFollette  inspired  in  the  young 
colleg.ans  who  fell  un  Icr  Irs  sn->v  amounted  almost  to 
fanaticism  and  m  certain  instances  the  manifestations 
of  their  enthusiasm  took  on  amusing  and  fantastic  forms. 
Could  the  history  of  the  Lincoln  club,  an  ephemeral  or 
ganization  formed  two  decades  ago,  be  written  it  would 
make  entertaining  reading  in  this  respect.  This  was  an 
organization  of  university  students  formed,  not  for  the 
extension  of  LaFollette  propaganda,  which  had  not  yet 
assumed  concrete  form;  but  to  build  up  a  LaFollette 
following  in  the  state  and  to  deliver  their  respective 
sections  over  to  LaFollette  candidates.  At  their  weekly 
meetings  in  a  small  room  in  the  university  the  boys  sol 
emnly  discussed  the  possibilities  of  victory  and  the  lines 
of  campaign  most  practicable,  and  each  pledged  himself 
to  carry  his  home  county  for  the  cause.  Even  the  utter 
most  corners  of  the  state  were  involved  in  this  compre 
hensive  scheme  and  in  several  instances  counties  were 


THE  HAUGEN  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR  61 

assigned  to  shy  and  beardless  youngsters  who  had  never 
been  within  their  borders.  Not  a  few  of  the  boys  set  out 
on  this  children's  crusade  never  to  be  heard  from  again 
until  years  afterward,  although  some  of  them  have  since 
risen  high  in  the  councils  of  the  state  and  nation  and  in 
their  professions. 


As  illustrating  LaFollette's  persuasive  power  the  fol 
lowing  later  story — a  favorite  recitation  of  Roger  M. 
Andrew 's — is  remembered :  One  old  man  who  for  years 
had  driven  all  over  Dane  county  in  the  interests  of  the 
governor  finally  went  to  him  to  ask  a  favor  in  return. 
He  wanted  the  governor  to  ask  the  congressman  of  the 
district  to  recommend  him  for  postmaster  at  Clifton's 
Corners.  '  *  It  is  asking  quite  a  favor,  I  know, ' '  said  the 
aspirant  in  his  humility,  too  honest  to  know  that  he  had 
earned  it  ten  times  over,  "but  if  you  could  do  this  for 
me  I  would  feel  very  grateful. ' ' 

The  governor  lovingly  put  his  arm  about  the  rounded 
and  dusty  shoulders  of  his  visitor  and  turning  his  ardent 
eyes  upon  those  of  the  farmer,  piercing  the  rural  soul 
to  its  innermost  depths,  said  in  a  voice  eloquent  with 
sympathy  and  affection: 

"Nels,  nobody  appreciates  more  than  Bob  LaFollette 
what  you  have  done.  You  have  often  been  in  my 
thoughts.  I  know -the  sacrifices  you  have  made;  how 
you  have  driven  all  day  and  ridden  through  blinding 
storms  at  night  to  cheer  and  further  our  cause.  I  know 
how  you  have  neglected  your  crops ;  how  you  have  spent 
your  money;  how  you  have  had  to  bear  the  scorn  and 
enmity  of  your  neighbors  for  the  sake  of  principle.  All 
these  things  I  have  seen  and  I  have  admired  you  and 
held  you  up  as  the  finest  type  of  citizen  and  patriot— 
the  bulwark  and  hope  of  the  state  and  nation.  Without 
your  brave  and  unflagging  support  in  the  dark  and  criti- 


62  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OP  WISCONSIN 

cal  times  we  have  had  I  am  afraid  our  cause  might  have 
gone  down. 

' '  You  are  deserving  of  something  infinitely  better  than 
a  paltry  postoffice  and  I  have  often  wondered  how  I 
could  reward  you  in  a  manner  to  meet  your  high  deserts. 
But  now  it  grieves  and  embarrasses  me  deeply  that  I 
must  ask  you  to  defer  your  request  till  some  happier 
future  time.  I  had  long  marked  you  as  the  man  that 
should  have  this  postoffice,  but  quite  unexpectedly  Gen 
eral  Bryant  has  come  and  asked  me  to  give  it  to  one  of 
his  friends.  General  Bryant,  you  know,  has  been  a 
second  father  to  me.  It  was  he  who  took  me  up  when 
friendless  and  penniless  I  was  about  to  quit  the 
university.  He  gave  me  money,  clothes  and  best  of  all 
his  friendship  and  sound  counsel.  He  has  been  my 
friend  ever  since,  standing  by  me  in  storm  and  shine. 
It  was  he  who  first  sent  me  to  congress.  He  has  labored 
for  the  party  year  in  and  year  out ;  you  know  how  man 
fully  he  has  stood  for  our  reforms  when  so  many  of  the 
old  wheel  horses  of  the  party  had  gone  over  to  the  enemy. 
Now  for  all  that  he  has  done  for  me  I  feel  that  I  could 
not  refuse  this  gallant  old  veteran  any  request  that  he 
might  make.  Yet  here  I  am  in  a  conflict  between  love 
and  duty.  I  leave  it  to  you  if  it  is  not  an  embarrassing 
sit ." 

It  was  as  far  as  the  governor  got.  The  old  man  had 
risen  to  his  feet,  his  eyes  suffused  wath  emotion.  "Give 
it  to  the  old  general,"  he  said  hoarsely.  "If  you  don't 
Bob  LaFollette  will  never  get  another  vote  from  me. 
What  is  there  I  can  do  next?" 

Another  later  incident  in  point  is  the  following: 
During  one  of  the  earlier  LaFollette  campaigns  a  Grant 
county  stockbuyer  who  had  been  an  ardent  supporter  of 
LaFollette  had  the  misfortune  on  election  day  to  fall 
under  a  train  while  on  the  way  to  Chicago  and  have  an 
arm  crushed.  He  was  placed  in  the  baggage  car  for 


THE  HAUGEN  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR  63 

medical  treatment.  The  next  morning  one  of  his  neigh 
bors  on  the  train  hearing  of  his  plight  went  into  the 
baggage  car  to  condole  with  him.  "Good  gracious,  old 
boy,  what  has  happened  to  you?"  said  the  visitor  sym 
pathetically.  "Oh,  just  a  little  accident,  that's  all," 
replied  the  victim.  "Say,  how  did  Bob  come  out?" 


LaFollette  had  that  invaluable  politician's  stock  in 
trade,  an  almost  unerring  memory  for  names  and  faces. 
It  was  actually  believed  by  some  that  he  had  an  uncanny 
power  in  this  respect,  and  the  yarn  is  told  that  to  test 
him  a  farmer  from  Dunkirk  once  took  to  Madison  a 
neighbor  whom  LaFollette  had  never  seen  nor  known. 
LaFollette  gripped  the  hand  of  the  unknown,  and  peer 
ing  keenly  into  his  face  said:  "Yes,  let's  see,  you're 
Jim  Simpson,  aren't  you?"  "No,"  replied  the  visitor 
with  a  grin,  "but  I  know  Jim;  I  bought  a  horse  from 
him  last  week."  "Oh,  yes,"  replied  LaFollette.  "I 
knew  there  was  something  between  you.  It  was  that 
handsome  gray,  wasn't  it?"  he  continued,  brushing  off 
some  gray  hairs  that  had  accumulated  on  the  ruralite's 
shoulders. 

"It  was,  all  right!"  said  the  farmer  in  utter  aston 
ishment.  LaFollette  had  unconsciously  saved  his  repu 
tation  by  playfully  taking  a  long  chance  on  some  stray 
gray  hairs. 

A  similar  story  has  it  that  once  when  LaFollette  had 
concluded  a  lecture  in  a  western  city  a  grizzled  listener 
present  walked  unsteadily  up  to  the  platform  where  La 
Follette  was  receiving,  surrounded  by  a  group  of  fash 
ionable  men  and  women,  and  slapping  him  familiarly 
on  the  back  called  out  in  a  high  key,  "Well,  neow,  I'll 
bet  you  don't  know  who  I  am?"  LaFollette  had  not 
seen  his  interrogator  for  twenty  years,  but  the  man's 
name  came  to  him  like  a  flash,  and  he  replied,  "Yes,  I 


64  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

do;  you're  So-and-So  and  used  to  live  near  Mt.  -  — , 
didn't  you?" 

1  'Wall,  neow,  heow  the  thunder  did  you  remember  me 
anyheow?"  went  on  his  questioner,  with  a  shoreless  ex 
panse  of  grin  on  his  florid  countenance.  Drawing  the 
old  man's  head  down  that  the  rest  of  the  company  might 
not  hear,  LaFollette  replied  with  a  twinkle : 

"Because  you've  got  the  same  old  jag  on." 

And  yet  there  are  those  who  say  that  LaFollette  has 
no  wit  nor  humor.  Some  years  ago  an  excellent  maga 
zine  writer  of  New  England,  after  himself  describing 
an  incident  which  had  set  the  whole  country  laughing, 
viz.,  LaFollette 's  defeat  of  Gallinger  for  president  pro 
tern  of  the  senate,  said  solemnly:  "He  hasn't  a  par 
ticle  of  humor.  His  friends  say  that  he  has,  but  they 
haven't  any  themselves." 

However,  it  should  be  remembered  that  this  scribe 
had  just  been  discussing  this  supposed  side  of  the  Wis 
consin  statesman  with  the  writer  of  the  present  work 
and  a  former  editor  of  the  university  funny  paper. 


The  same  day  that  Mr.  Haugen's  candidacy  was  an 
nounced  Horace  A.  Taylor  of  Madison  ("Uncle  Hod"), 
editor  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Journal,  former  state  sen 
ator  and  former  chairman  of  the  state  central  commit 
tee,  also  came  out  as  a  candidate  for  governor. 

Dane  county  thus  became  a  hot  battlefield.  LaFol 
lette  resolved  "to  move  heaven  and  earth,"  he  said,  to 
carry  it  for  Haugen,  not  only  because  of  the  prestige 
its  heavy  representation  would  give  his  candidate  in  the 
convention,  but  since  it  was  his  (LaFollette 's)  home 
county,  it  would  not  do  to  have  simply  the  prophet's 
honor  abroad.  His  pride  was  further  challenged  by  the 
fact  that  the  county  organization  had  been  taken  out 
of  the  hands  of  his  supporters  two  years  before.  But 
Dane  county  was  also  the  home  of  Mr.  Taylor  and  of 


THE  HAUGEN  CANDIDACY  FOE  GOVERNOK  65 

' '  Boss  • '  Keyes  and  the  Spooners,  all  leagued  in  the  com 
mon  cause  of  resisting  LaFollette's  recapture  of  the 
county.  In  full  understanding  with  Sawyer  and  Payne, 
it  is  said,  they  brought  out  numerous  local  candidates 
' '  to  gather  in  the  provinces, ' '  an  old  political  trick,  often 
a  successful  one ;  however,  destined  to  fail  in  its  general 
purpose  this  time,  as  it  failed  again  on  a  larger  scale 
when  attempted  in  1900  for  the  defeat  of  LaFollette's 
nomination  for  governor  that  year.  In  addition  to  the 
candidacy  of  Mr.  Taylor  of  Madison  for  the  governor 
ship,  T.  C.  Lund  of  Stoughton  was  urged  for  secretary 
of  state,  Halle  Steensland  of  Madison  for  state  treas 
urer,  H.  C.  Adams  of  Madison  for  railroad  commis 
sioner,  Ralph  C.  Vernoii  of  Madison  for  state  prison 
warden,  while  two  Madison  lawyers  were  encouraged  to 
groom  themselves  for  the  position  of  assistant  attorney 
general  and  two  other  prominent  residents  of  the  city 
for  that  of  assistant  superintendent  of  public  property. 
With  this  combination  of  influence  they  succeeded  even 
tually  in  carrying  the  cities  of  Madison  and  Stoughton 
against  Haugen.  This  nerved  LaFollette  to  greater  ef 
forts  to  carry  the  country  districts. 
\  The  contest  was  sharp  from  the  beginning.  LaFol 
lette  won,  as  so  many  battles  have  been  won,  by  a  spir 
ited  dash.  Through  quick  action  he  succeeded  in  get 
ting  caucuses  held  in  certain  towns  before  the  opposition 
could  organize  and  thus  carried  them  for  Haugen.  At 
this  the  charge  of  '  *  snap  caucuses ' '  was  raised,  a  familiar 
cry  in  later  years.  The  LaFollette-anti-LaFollette  fac 
tionalism  in  the  republican  party  in  Wisconsin  may  thus 
be  said  to  have  had  its  first  clash  of  arms  in  Dane  county. 
It  sounds  familiar  to  read  of  the  republicans  of  the  town 
of  Perry  on  June  7,  1894,  adopting  a  "  hurl-back-with- 
scorn"  resolution  against  the  charge  of  "snap  cau 
cuses."  This  was  probably  the  first  resolution  marking  L, 
the  factional  alignment  now  impending  in  Wisconsin,  i 


66  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Many  were  the  sharp  caucus  practices  resorted  to  also. 
[Jn  seme  localities  it  was  a  trick  of  the  "half-breeds," 
as  the  LaFollette  followers  came  to  be  called,  to  arrange 
beforehand  to  seat  their  following  near  the  door,  and 
thus  force  the  opposition  to  some  other  quarter.     It  is 
a  usual  situation  at  public  gatherings  that  a  greater  or 
less  number  of  spectators,  idly  curious  and  otherwise, 
stand  about  the  doorway.    Accordingly  when  the  house 
rose  in  questions  of  division  these  ' '  innocent  spectators ' ' 
could  be  counted  in  with  the  half-breeds  of  which  they 
would  seem  to  form  a  part.     When  the  chairman  hap 
pened  to  be  of  the  half-breed  persuasion  questions  would 
be  put  in  such  form  that  his  side  had  the  first  vote  and 
!    accordingly  such  spectators  were  not  counted  for  the 
\  other  side.    It  was  in  vain  for  the  opposition  to  protest ; 
1  the  chairman  having   once   entered  upon   such   tactics 
I*  could  be  depended  upon  to  carry  them  through. 

An  acrimonious  warfare  was  carried  on  in  the  local 
press.  Mr.  Taylor  charged  that  John  M.  Nelson  -and 
Walter  S.  Hidden,  state  employes,  drew  pay  and  did  no 
work,  to  which  Hidden  retorted  in  public  print  that 
Taylor,  as  United  States  railway  commissioner,  took  a 
junketing  party  to  California  at  government  expense 
and  that  a  future  member  of  his  (Taylor's)  family  was 
carried  on  the  public  pay  roll  at  a  large  salary  and  did 
no  work. 

With  the  Madison  papers  all  opposing  him,  LaFollette 
flooded  the  county  with  personal  letters.  Always  a  be 
liever  in  the  Lberal  use  of  printer's  ink,  he  established 
a  literary  bureau  in  his  law  office  and  here  personally 
dictated  the  thousands  of  letters  sent  out. 

LaFollette  infused  his  infectious  enthusiasm  into  the 
caucus  campaign.  Night  riders  galloped  from  farm 
house  to  farmhouse  in  Haugen's  behalf,  a  new  feature 
*in  campaigning.  After  a  day  of  reverses  he  would  write 
cheeringly : 


THE  HAUGEX  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR  67 

" They  (the  opposition)  had  their  inning  today;  to 
morrow  Tfe  must  have  ours.  Let  us  make  it  decisive." 

And  decisive  it  proved.  Although  losing  Madison  and 
Stoughton,  he  carried  Dane  county  for  Haugen  and 
headed  the  delegation  to  the  Milwaukee  convention.  He 
also  succeeded  in  carrying  every  other  county  of  his  old 
congressional  district.  In  much  the  same  manner  as  in 
Dane  was  the  campaign  carried  on  in  other  counties. 
Ten  candidates  for  governor  were  supported  at  the  con 
vention.  As  was  expected,  Haugen  was  not  nominated, 
the  machine  leaders  finally  uniting  their  forces  on 
William  H.  Upham  of  Marshfield,  who  was  named  on 
the  sixth  ballot,  but  so  unstrung  did  the  organization 
then  become  that  the  Haugen  forces  practically  con 
trolled  the  remaining  nominations.  The  fact  that  La- 
Follette  in  his  brief  and  brilliant  campaign  and  with 
the  slenderest  financial  resources  finally  carried  nearly 
one-third  of  the  delegates  for  Haugen  marked  him  at 
once  as  a  rare  organizer  and  leader.  "We  came  out  of  , 
that  campaign  tremendously  enthused  and  stimulated' 
for  the  work  ahead,"  said  LaFollette  later. 

Particularly  was  his  achievement  in  carrying  Dane 
county,  after  losing  the  cities  of  Madison  and  Stoughton, 
regarded  as  a  striking  example  of  political  generalship 
and  staying  qualities.  It  proved  LaFollette  strong  with 
the  farmers. 

The  old  time  leaders  were  given  a  shock  at  Haugen 's 
strength.  LaFollette  was  pointed  out  and  sought  for  in 
the  convention.  Many  who  were  later  to  be  among  his 
most  ardent  lieutenants  met  him  here  for  the  first  time 
and  formed  the  bond  of  friendship.  Among  the  dele 
gates  later  to  become  prominent  in  the  LaFollette  move 
ment  were  Walter  L.  Houser,  H.  S.  Comstock,  Atley 
Peterson,  A.  H.  Long,  George  E.  Bryant,  H.  W.  Chyno- 
weth,  John  M.  Nelson,  A.  J.  Vinje,  Ira  B.  Bradford,  A. 
R.  Hall,  J.  H.  Stout,  J.  J.  McGillivray,  A.  W.  Sanborn, 


68  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Perry  C.  Wilder,  W.  D.  Connor,  F.  A.  Cady  and  A.  H. 
Dahl,  while  among  those  later  to  be  prominent  in  op 
posing  LaFollette  were  J.  V.  Quarles,  M.  G.  Jeffris,  D. 
E.  Riordan,  John  Harris  and  S.  S.  Barney. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  here  as  marking  the  old  politi 
cal  methods— that  of  appealing  to  voters  on  the  glory 
of  the  grand  old  party  alone  and  leaving  the  settlement 
of  state  issues  to  politicians — that  the  platform  contained 
only  350  words  and  had  no  reference  to  state  issues  ex 
cept  this  closing  paragraph,  a  shooing  of  the  Bennett 
law  bogie : 

"The  republican  party  is  a  party  of  religious  liberty 
and  absolute  non-sectarianism,  of  entire  separation  of 
church  and  state,  of  free  common  schools,  of  the  utmost 
independence  of  individual  thought,  speech  and  action 
within  the  law." 

This  plank,  by  the  way,  appeared  in  the  republican 
platforms  of  1896  and  1898  as  well,  except  that  in  the 
last  named  year  someone  sought  to  improve  it  by  sub 
stituting  for  the  last  three  words,  "within  the  law,"  the 
more  prolix  form,  "consistent  with  the  law  and  the 
rights  of  others." 

The  plank  marks  the  backing  down  of  the  party  on 
the  Bennett  law  issue.  The  republicans  had  been  silent 
on  this  issue  in  1892,  but  the  democratic  victory  of  that 
year  made  a  declaration  advisable  in  1894.  In  1900  the 
ghost  of  the  Bennett  law  was  finally  considered  laid  and 
the  plank  disappeared  from  the  platforms. 


CHAPTER  V 

LaFollette's  First  Candidacy  for  Governor. 

ANOTHER  SHARP  CAMPAIGN — HOARD  DISCLAIMS  UNDERSTANDING 
OR  DEAL  AT  CONVENTION — BRIBERY  OF  DELEGATES  CHARGED — Sco- 
TIELD  NOMINATED. 

A  RECRUDESCENCE  of  the  uprising  of  the  LaFol- 
lette-Haugen  element  in  1896  was  inevitable,  composed 
as  this  element  largely  was  of  eager,  elate  young  men, 
fired  with  ideals  and  enthusiasm,  and  inspired  by  the 
strong  showing  they  had  made  in  the  previous  cam 
paign.  LaFollette  was  naturally  regarded  by  this  ele 
ment  as  the  logical  candidate  for  governor  and  in  time 
he  announced  his  candidacy. 

That  he  had  retained  the  grip  he  had  once  more  ac 
quired  on  his  old  congressional  district  in  1894  was  dem 
onstrated  early  in  the  campaign  by  his  election  as  a  dele 
gate  to  the  republican  national  convention  at  St.  Louis. 
Judge  E.  W.  Keyes,  former  state  chairman,  had  been 
brought  out  against  him,  but  after  LaFollette  had  car 
ried  every  ward  in  their  home  city  of  Madison  and  every 
county  in  the  district  but  one,  he  was  chosen  by  acclama 
tion.  At  this  national  convention  he  served  on  the  com 
mittee  on  resolutions,  and  also  made  a  speech  placing 
in  nomination  for  the  vice  presidency,  Henry  Clay  Evans 
of  Tennessee. 

This  national  convention  was  to  prove  of  more  than 
passing  interest  and  significance  to  Wisconsin  state  poli 
tics.  Although  the  democrats  had  obtained  a  new  lease 
of  power  in  1892,  they  were  defeated  in  1894.  A  roster 
printing  scandal  proved  embarrassing  to  them  and  the 
republicans  strengthened  themselves  by  repudiating  the 
Bennett  law  and  playing  heavily  on  the  dramatic  mili 
tary  record  of  Major  Upham — thus  carrying  the  elec- 


70  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

tion.  However,  once  back  in  power,  the  republicans  pro 
ceeded  to  repudiate  their  generally  expressed  pledges 
to  continue  the  prosecution  of  the  treasury  cases  so  suc 
cessfully  begun  by  the  democrats.  Already  nearly  half 
a  million  dollars  had  been  retrieved  by  the  democrats 
and  nearly  half  as  much  again  remained  involved. 
J  It  is  at  this  point  that  Charles  F.  Pfister,  the  big  Mil- 

>waukee  boss,  enters  as  an  influential  factor  in  state  poli- 
t  tics.  Through  the  influence  of  a  powerful  lobby  organ 
ized  by  him,  bills  were  put  through  the  legislature  in 
1895  relieving  the  state  treasurers  and  their  bonds 
men,  and  these  bills  were  signed  by  Governor  Upham. 
This  action  of  Upham 's,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  he 
had  seemed  rather  too  accommodating  to  certain  inter 
ests  and  that  certain  jealous  rivals — such  as  "Hod" 
Taylor  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Journal — were  making 
relentless  war  on  him,  seemed  to  the  party  leaders  to 
make  Upham  almost  impossible  as  a  candidate  for  re 
election.  Accordingly,  the  machine  managers,  Sawyer, 
/Payne,  Pfister  and  others,  met  at  the  Planters  hotel  in 
St.  Louis  during  the  republican  convention  and  selected 
Edward  Scofield  for  the  next  candidate. 

A  sharp  campaign  followed.  LaFollette  conducted 
his  fight  along  the  lines  of  the  Haugen  campaign  and 
so  successfully  prosecuted  it  that  he  and  his  friends  be 
lieved  he  had  a  majority  of  the  delegates  to  the  state 
convention.  A  margin  of  a  dozen  votes  was  claimed 
for  him.  When  the  convention  opened  at  Milwaukee, 
August  5th,  even  the  opposition  press  predicted  that  he 
would  lead  in  the  balloting,  as  in  fact  he  did  the  next 
day.  A  great  demonstration  following  a  spirited  speech 
in  his  favor  by  former  Governor  Hoard,  indicated  the 
popularity  of  the  new  leader.  Before  a  nomination  was 
made,  however,  adjournment  was  taken  until  next  day 
and  the  LaFollette  cause,  whatever  its  prospects  at  the 
time,  was  thereby  lost.  Major  Scofield  was  nominated. 


LAFOLLETTE'S  FIRST  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR  71 

LaFollette  has  himself  frequently  told  the  story  that 
his  delegates  were  brutally  bought  away  from  him  that 
night  and  his  account  may  well  be  incorporated  here  as 
it  will  aid  in  an  understanding  of  the  political  condi 
tions  and  practices  then  prevailing  and  may  help  make 
clearer  his  relentless  zeal  in  the  future  prosecution  of 
his  cause.  In  a  speech  some  years  ago,  he  said : 

I  went  down  to  that  convention  with  votes  enough  instructed 
and  pledged  to  nominate  me  on  the  first  formal  ballot  for  gov 
ernor.  I  had  no  money  to  make  the  fight;  I  had  no  fortune  that 
had  come  to  me;  I  had  no  newspaper.  I  had  the  freedom  of 
speech  that  our  flag  and  the  principles  of  our  government  give 
to  every  citizen. 

I  was  not  nominated;  I  just  said  that  I  went  down  there  with 
votes  enough  instructed  and  pledged  to  nominate  me,  but  I  didn't 
get  them  voted.  Why?  I  am  here  to  tell  you  why.  Because  the 
night  before  the  ballot  was  to  begin,  in  the  room  of  a  United 
States  senator,  they  bought  enough  of  my  delegates  with  money, 
running  from  $25  to  $700  a  vote,  to  defeat  me  the  next  day  in 
the  convention.  That  is  why  I  was  not  nominated. 

Did  you  understand  me?  I  said  bought — bought!  Now,  I 
wouldn't  say  that  if  I  couldn't  prove  it.  By  ten  o'clock  that 
night  delegates  began  to  come  to  my  headquarters  in  the  Hotel 
Pfister,  where  all  the  candidates  had  their  headquarters.  They 
began  to  come  to  my  headquarters  and  tell  me  that  they  had  been 
taken  into  the  room  of  that  United  States  senator  and  had  been 
offered  various  sums  for  their  vote,  running  from  $25  to  $700 
apiece,  in  so  far  as  they  reported  to  me.  Of  course,  nobody  came 
over  and  told  me  who  took  the  money;  it  was  only  those  who  were 
honest  enough  to  refuse  to  take  it.  I  took  down  their  statements. 
By  midnight  I  had  taken  the  statements  of  twenty  men. 

At  midnight  one  of  the  great  political  bosses  of  the  state 
came  to  my  headquarters  and  said:  "LaFollette,  I  want  to  see 
you  alone. ' '  I  went  into  a  room  with  him  and  he  said :  ' '  We  have 
got  you  skinned.  We  have  got  enough  of  your  delegates  to  de 
feat  you  in  the  convention  tomorrow.  Now,  we  don't  want  any 
scandal ;  we  don 't  want  to  hurt  the  republican  party. ' '  The  man 
who  had  been  doing  all  this  did  not  want  to  hurt  the  repub 
lican  party.  He  said  to  me :  "We  don 't  want  to  hurt  the  repub 
lican  party.  If  you  will  behave  yourself  and  keep  still,  we  will 
take  care  of  you  when  the  proper  time  comes." 


72  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

That  is  their  measure  of  men;  every  man  his  price,  they  think. 
No  man  patriotic  in  the  civil  service.  Everyone  concedes  patriot 
ism  when  the  cannon  thunders,  but  there  can  be  patriotism  in  time 
of  peace  as  well  as  in  time  of  war.  Thank  God!  if  that  were  not 
so,  our  country  could  not  stand  for  a  day. 

"We  will  take  care  of  you  when  the  proper  time  comes." 
Take  care  of  me.  Well!  I  felt  then,  and  I  have  felt  ever  since, 
that  I  could  take  care  of  myself.  I  looked  that  gentleman  in  the 
face,  and  that  you  may  have  the  record  complete,  I  will  tell  you 
who  he  is.  Charles  F.  Pfister,  one  of  the  millionaire  political 
bosses  of  Wisconsin,  and  it  was  in  the  Pfister  hotel  that  this  trans 
pired.  I  want  to  say  to  you,  fellow  citizens,  don't  think  for  a 
moment  that  I  have  sneaked  off  down  here  to  talk  about  this 
thing.  When  that  convention  was  over  I  said  to  one  of  the  po 
litical  bosses  of  the  state :  ' '  You  have  carried  this  convention  by 
corruption;  I  have  the  proof  of  it  here.  When  the  time  comes 
to  make  the  best  use  of  that  evidence  to  redeem  this  state  to  rep 
resentative  government  and  crush  the  life  out  of  your  corrupt 
political  machine,  I  will  use  this  evidence. ' ' 

And  in  1904,  when  a  bolt  had  been  organized  by  the  so-called 
stalwart  republicans  of  that  state,  I  used  that  evidence,  and  from 
every  platform  in  my  state,  closing  in  the  metropolis  of  the  state 
two  nights  before  the  election  at  Milwaukee  in  the  Exposition 
building,  in  the  presence  of  10,000  people  who  stood  until  way 
past  midnight  to  hear  the  discussion,  I  proclaimed  the  fact,  called 
the  roll  and  named  the  men  and  the  prices. 

Next  day  they  did  exactly  what  they  said  they  would  do.  They 
defeated  me  in  the  convention. 

Among  the  men,  in  addition  to  those  mentioned  by 
LaFollette,  who  claimed  to  have  been  witnesses  of  brib 
ery  was  Robert  F.  Howard,  a  Milwaukee  newspaper 
man.  He  declared  that  he  had  seen  five  men  receive 
$50  apiece  and  offered  to  give  LaFollette  an  affidavit 
to  that  effect  at  any  time. 

But  there  were  other  men  at  this  convention  and  other 
incidents  that  were  to  prove  important  factors.  The  big 
machine  managers,  Sawyer,  Payne,  Pfister,  Keyes  and 
others,  were  on  hand  to  give  quiet  and  effective  direction 
to  things.  Former  Governor  Hoard  was  perhaps  the 
most  conspicuous  of  the  delegates.  The  opponents  of 
LaFollette  had  industriously  circulated  the  report  of  a 


LAFOLLETTE'S  FIRST  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR  73 

deal  between  LaFollette  and  Hoard  involving  the  gov 
ernorship  and  the  next  United  States  senatorship,  and 
that  in  the  event  of  success  these  two  leaders  would  urge 
the  re-enactment  of  the  Bennett  law.  A  dramatic 
speech  by  Hoard  in  which  he  declared  that  the  ghost  of 
the  Bennett  law  was  laid  and  in  which  he  denied  the 
existence  of  any  deal  whatever  was  one  of  the  stirring 
features  of  the  convention. 

Undeterred  by  previous  failures  also,  A.  R.  Hall  was 
again  on  hand  with  his  anti-pass  resolution.  He  had 
presented  the  same  resolution  at  the  convention  of  1894, 
but  the  committee  on  resolutions  had  quietly  pigeon 
holed  it  and  it  was  never  heard  of  again.  The  friends 
of  the  pass  system  now  thought  to  repeat  this  trick  in  a 
motion  made  by  H.  G.  Kress  of  Manitowoc  that  all  pro 
posed  declarations  be  referred  to  the  committee  on  reso 
lutions  without  reading  or  debate.  But  Hall  was  too 
quick  to  be  caught  napping.  Jumping  to  his  feet,  he 
offered  this  amendment: 

And  all  such  resolutions  not  favorably  acted  upon  by  the  com 
mittee  be  reported  back  to  the  convention  and  be  open  for  de 
bate. 

Tt  was  a  clever  move  on  Hall's  part.  It  would  be  a 
dangerous  proposition  to  vote  down.  The  chair  (Gen. 
Michael  Griffin)  hesitated,  put  the  question,  and  it  was 
adopted.  But  Hall  not  yet  having  presented  his  reso 
lution,  another  attempt  was  made  to  forestall  him  by  an 
unexpected  promptness  in  reporting  the  platform.  How 
ever,  when  the  platform  had  been  read  and  before  the 
chair  could  put  the  vote  for  its  adoption,  Hall  was  on 
his  feet,  shouting  for  recognition.  It  was  impossible  to 
ignore  him.  Receiving  recognition,  Hall  adroitly  praised 
the  platform  which  had  been  reported ;  then,  as  if  quite 
by  the  way,  added  that  the  voters  of  Dunn  county  had 
requested  that  he  present  a  resolution  to  the  convention. 
Before  Hall  could  read  it,  Chairman  Griffin  promptly 


74  LiAFOLLETTE'S    WINNING    OF   WISCONSIN 

declared  him  out  of  order.     But  Hall  held  his  ground 
and  demanded  the  chair's  reason  for  the  ruling. 

"Under  a  previous  motion  that  all  proposed  planks 
should  first  go  to  the  committee  on  resolutions, ' '  replied 
the  chair.  Hall  answered  that  the  committee  had  been 
too  quick  for  him,  but  the  chair  rapped  him  out  of  order. 
Nevertheless,  Hall  still  stood  firm  and  declared  that  the 
people  of  Wisconsin  had  a  right  to  be  heard  at  any  time. 

' '  The  resolution  must  go  to  the  committee  in  the  usual 
manner, ' '  shouted  the  chair  and  again  rapped  for  order. 

Hall  refused  to  be  beaten  down.  A  dramatic  scene 
then  followed  as  these  two  old  military  and  political  vet 
erans,  who  had  fought  together  at  Atlanta,  faced  one 
another — the  gaunt  man  from  Dunn,  shaking  his  spec 
tral  finger  and  quivering  with  excitement,  and  the  chair 
coolly  and  firmly  facing  the  rebellious  delegate.  The 
breath  of  battle  was  in  the  air  as  the  chair  in  a  ringing 
voice  commanded  silence  and  declared  :  '  *  The  sergeant- 
at-arms  will  enforce  order  in  the  convention!"  It  was 
a  moment  of  suspense  and  apprehension;  delegates  be 
gan  mounting  their  chairs  and  many  feared  blows  be 
tween  the  rival  partisans  as  Sergeant  Zweitusch  swung 
down  the  aisle  toward  Hall.  Finally,  Hall,  still  protest 
ing,  was  pulled  down  by  his  friends  and  his  resolution 
was  sent  up  in  written  form.  This  ended  the  incident 
for  the  time  being;  the  platform  was  adopted  and  the 
candidates  nominated. 

When  on  the  following  day,  however,  the  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  resolutions  asked  to  recall  a  notice  of 
a  meeting  of  his  committee,  Hall,  scenting  another  at 
tempt  to  shelve  his  resolution,  rose  to  his  feet.  With  an 
apology  to  the  chair  for  the  incident  of  the  day  before, 
he  obtained  a  hearing  and  again  called  for  action  on 
his  resolution. 

Another  attempt  was  made  to  refer  his  resolution 
back  to  the  committee,  but  Hall  made  a  fiery  demand 


LAFOLLETTE'S  FIRST  CANDIDACY  FOR  GOVERNOR  75 

that  the  resolution  be  acted  upon  at  once.  He  asserted 
that  the  people  of  Wisconsin  had  voted  50,000  to  600 
at  the  spring  elections  the  year  before  for  practically 
the  same  plank  and  the  convention  should  respond  to 
such  demand.  Declaring  that  the  platform  was  already 
adopted,  but  fearful  of  turning  the  resolution  down, 
the  chair  finally  put  Hall's  motion  and  the  resolution 
was  adopted  amid  cheers  from  the  LaFollette  follow 
ing.  The  resolution  read  as  follows: 

Resolved,  that  it  is  the  sense  of  this  convention  that  the  grant 
ing  of  free  railroad  passes,  express  and  telegraph  franks  and 
sleeping  car  permits  by  the  corporations  of  this  state  to  public 
officers  is  against  public  policy  and  we  favor  such  laws  as  will 
prevent  the  same. 

Out  of  this  incident  others  of  striking  interest  were 
to  grow. 

That  LaFollette  could  prove  a  good  loser  was  shown 
in  the  campaign  that  fall,  when  he  threw  himself  into 
the  fight  and  made  twenty-five  speeches  for  his  party. 
He  closed  with  a  masterly  effort  in  Milwaukee — his  first 
speech  in  that  city — the  night  before  election.  The  Mil 
waukee  Sentinel  printed  the  speech  in  full  and  was  en 
thusiastic  over  the  young  orator.  "He  interpolated  the 
dry,  hard  facts  of  financial  history  with  pathos  and 
humor,"  it  said,  "and  carried  his  audience  with  un 
flagging  interest.  The  speaker  walked  backwards  and 
forward  across  the  stage ;  he  sat  down  on  the  chairman 's 
table  and  almost  stepped  from  the  stage  into  the  very 
midst  of  his  auditors.  It  was  the  first  time  he  ever  faced 
a  Milwaukee  audience  and  yet  no  one  would  have  sus 
pected  the  fact  had  he  not  so  informed  them.  He  at 
tempted  to  draw  his  address  to  a  close  several  times,  but 
was  forced  to  go  on  by  his  hearers.  When  he  finally  sat 
down,  the  great  audience  rose  up  and  gave  three  rousing 
cheers  for  the  speaker.  Then  there  was  a  general  rush 
for  the  stage  and  for  half  an  hour  he  was  kept  busy  shak 
ing  hands  and  receiving  congratulations. " 


CHAPTER  VI 

"Menace-of-the-Machine"  Speech. 

SIGNIFICANT  YEAR  IN  LAFOLLETTE  MOVEMENT — FUTURE  GOV 
ERNOR  FORESHADOWS  CRUSADE  IN  CHICAGO  ADDRESS — PROPOSES 
PRIMARY  ELECTIONS — FERN  DELL  SPEECH — BEGINS  SPEAKING  AT 
COUNTY  FAIRS — PRESS  GREATLY  INTERESTED  IN  CRUSADE  AND  ITS 
PURPOSE. 

IT  IS  a  distinguishing  mark  of  the  benefactors  of  hu 
manity,  in  whatever  their  field  of  endeavor,  that  they 
have  always  held  service  to  their  fellows  above  sale. 
Favored  with  superior  gifts,  it  had  been  theirs  to  com 
mand  fortune,  respectability  and  influence  with  little 
difficulty,  had  they  cared  to  choose  the  easier  established 
ways  of  society.  By  choosing  not  to  take  such  course, 
they  often  become  the  martyrs  of  history,  and  the  very 
fact  that  they  have  been  unpurchasable  has  ever  led  to 
misunderstanding,  to  the  impugning  of  motives,  to 
charges  of  egotism  and  self-seeking.  It  has  been  their 
peculiar  glory,  however,  that  they  have  never  shrunk 
from  paying  this  inevitable  price,  of  bearing  calumny 
and  misunderstanding,  the  dungeon  and  the  stake,  for 
the  glory  of  God  and  their  righteous  causes. 

In  contemplating  LaFollette's  choosing  of  a  similar- 
course  the  question  may  occur,  has  he  been  sustained 
from  the  pages  of  history  and  knowledge  of  the  final 
vindication  that  has  come  to  the  heroes  and  martyrs  of 
the  past  ?  It  is  related  that  on  the  taking  up  of  his  po 
litical  crusade  in  Wisconsin  he  made  a  study  of  historic 
movements  and  uprisings  of  peoples  in  other  lands  and 
at  other  times,  to  draw  therefrom  such  lessons  of  wisdom 
and  fortitude  as  might  be  obtained.  The  revolts  of 
Grecian  and  Roman  history,  Jack  Cade's  rebellion,  the 
Cromwellian  uprising,  the  American  and  French  revolu- 


"MENACE-OF-THE-MACHINE"  SPEECH  77 

tions,  the  Chartist  movement — these  were,  it  is  said, 
among  the  historical  phenomena  to  which  nights  of  study 
were  given.  It  is  a  tradition  that  this  was  done  at  the 
inspired  suggestion  of  Jerre  C.  Murphy,  who  became 
the  first  private  secretary  of  LaPollette  while  governor. 

While  the  lion 's  share  of  credit  for  the  poLtical  regen 
eration  of  Wisconsin  is  yielded  by  all  to  LaFollette,  there 
are,  as  with  all  great  things,  those  who  claim  priority  of 
initiative  and  discovery. 

It  is  said  that  before  LaFollette  took  up  his  crusade 
against  the  ruling  political  machine  in  the  state  Murphy 
had  evolved  the  theory  that  the  only  hope  of  undoing 
the  "machine"  was  to  discover  a  man  of  the  people, 
and  develop  in  him  capacities  for  leadership,  stratagem 
and  battle  that  would  in  time  cause  him  to  prevail  over 
the  forces  of  intrenched  privilege.  He,  it  is  said,  came 
to  this  conclusion  from  a  like  previous  study  of  great 
revolts  of  history  and  the  lives  of  liberators  of  peoples. 
He  believed  he  had  discovered  such  a  man  in  LaFollette, 
and  whether  or  not  he  set  the  future  reformer  on  his 
crusading  career  it  is  said  he  early  urged  such  course 
upon  him  and  gave  such  organized  impetus  to  the  cause 
as  he  could. 

The  year  1897  looms  large  in  the  annals  of  LaFollette      ,\ 
and  political  reform  in  Wisconsin.    It  was  in  this  year — 
memorable  to  him  and  his  cause — that  the  future  leader 
discovered  himself  and  developed  the  master  passion  to 
which  he  was  later  so  unreservedly  to  give  himself. 

Smarting  under  the  humiliation  of  having  his  dele 
gates  taken  away  from  him  in  the  convention  of  the  pre 
vious  year,  and  eager  to  remedy  the  sordid  political  con 
ditions  that  prevailed,  LaFollette  boldly  resolved  upon 
a  campaign  for  the  complete  abolition  of  the  caucus  and 
convention  system. 

In  its  stead  he  decided  to  propose  primary  elections 
for  the  direct  nomination  of  all  candidates  for  public 


78  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

offices,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest.  This  conclusion 
he  formed  only  after  months  of  study  of  the  caucus,  con 
vention  and  election  laws  of  all  the  states  of  the  union 
as  well  as  those  of  many  foreign  lands.  There  was  then 
no  thoroughgoing  primary  m  any  state,  although  the 
legislatures  in  a  number  of  states  had  begun  breaking 
the  new  ground  in  sporadic  ways,  and  even  the  Wiscon 
sin  legislature  had  enacted  a  primary  system  for  the  city 
of  Milwaukee  which,  however,  proved  short-lived.  La- 
Follette  was  intelligent  and  alert  enough  to  discern  the 
new  movement  in  its  rising. 

Accordingly  when  invited  to  give  the  annual  address 
before  the  University  of  Chicago  on  Washington 's  birth 
day  of  that  year  he  made  his  celebrated  i '  Menace-of -the- 
\  Machine"  speech  m  which  he  first  publicly  advocated 
primary  elections  for  the  nomination  of  all  political  can 
didates.  Discussing  the  operations  under  the  Australian 
ballot  he  said : 

Is  there  any  good  reason  why  a  plan  so  successful  in  securing 
a  free,  honest  ballot  and  a  fair  count  in  the  election  will  not  work 
equally  well  in  the  nomination  of  candidates? 

Then  every  citizen  will  share  equally  in  the  nomination  of  the 
candidates  of  his  party  and  attend  primary  elections  as  a  privilege 
as  well  as  a  duty.  It  will  no  longer  be  necessary  to  create  an  arti 
ficial  interest  in  the  general  election  to  induce  voters  to  attend. 
Intelligent,  well  considered  judgment  will  be  substituted  for  un 
thinking  enthusiasm,  the  lamp  of  reason  for  the  torchlight.  The 
voter  will  not  require  to  be  persuaded  that  he  has  an  interest  in 
the  election.  He  will  know  that  the  nominations  of  the  party  will 
not  be  the  result  of  ' '  compromise, ' '  or  impulse,  or  vile  design — 
the  ' '  barrel ' '  and  the  machine,  but  the  candidates  of  the  majority 
honestly  and  fairly  nominated. 

It  has  been  declared  by  opponents  of  LaFollette  that 
while  he  carried  the  primary  idea  to  ultimate  success, 
the  credit  of  launching  the  movement  in  Wisconsin 
should  not  be  his;  that  his  first  introduction  to  the  pri 
mary  idea  was  the  Lewis  primary  bill,  introduced  in  the 
Wisconsin  legislature  in  1897,  and  that  he  did  not  urge 


"MENACE-OF-THE-MACHINE"  SPEECH  79 

primary  reform  until  a  year  later.     In  the  interest  of 
historical  truth  it  may  here  be  said  that  the  Lewis  bill— 
the  first  thorougn  primary  bill  introduced  in  Wisconsin 
—was  drawn  under  Mr.  LaFollette 's  directions  by  his     . 
law  partners,  S.  A.  Harper  and  A.  G.  Zimmerman,  while  ,^k-' 
LaFollette  was  himself  writing  his  Chicago  speech.     It 
was  introduced  by  Assemblyman  Lewis  of  Racine. 

LaFollette  now  had  something  concrete  on  which  to 
base  his  war  on  the  "machine,"  and  a  definite  issue  and 
program  of  his  own  to  offer  in  place  of  the  outgrown 
practices  then  prevailing.  Finding  it  necessary  to  look 
to  the  plain  people  for  his  support,  he  proceeded  to  sow 
his  propaganda  among  them  and  await  the  harvest  his 
faith  foresaw.  Here  then  began  what  may  be  called  an 
other  seven  years'  war,  a  campaign  that  was  to  continue 
practically  unbroken  until  the  fateful,  decisive  election 
night  of  November,  1904. 

An  interesting  and  significant  incident  of  this  year  de 
serves  notice.  Realizing  that  LaFollette  and  Ins  cause 
were  rapidly  in  the  ascendancy,  some  new  course  to  divert 
or  unhorse  him  seemed  imperative  to  the  old  organiza 
tion  leaders.  Fighting  him  would  no  longer  do ;  he  was 
becoming  too  strong.  It  was  thought  perhaps  a  fat  fed-  , 
eral  job  might  quiet  h^m;  many  other  recalcitrants  had. 
been  eliminated  in  this  way.  LaFollette  was  poor  and 
had  no  organization  or  connections  of  wealth  behind  him. 
He  was  paying  his  own  expenses  while  spreading  his  doc 
trine.  So  President  McKinley  was  prevailed  upon  to 
offer  him  the  post  of  comptroller  of  the  treasury.  The 
salary  was  $6,000.  Acceptance  would  have  shelved  him 
effectively  and  retarded,  if  not  shriveled  up,  the  reform 
movement  in  "Wisconsin.  The  proffer  was  made  by  Sen 
ator  Spooner,  but  was  promptly  declined  by  LaFollette. 
Previous  to  that  time  LaFollette  had  also  declined  an 
Indian  territory  judgeship.  He  had  found  himself;  his 


80  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

path  lay  clear  before  him  and  no  charm  nor  temptation 
could  now  swerve  him  from  it. 

Invited  to  give  the  independence  oration  July  5  that 
year  at  Mineral  Point,  LaFollette  gave  an  address  based 
largely  upon  his  "Menace-of-the-Machine"  speech  made 
previously  at  Chicago,  but  in  which  he  also  discussed 
state  issues  in  aggressive  fashion  and  attacked  the  state 
administration's  attitude  on  corporation  and  taxation 
questions.  August  20  of  the  same  year  he  gave  practi 
cally  the  same  address  before  a  gathering  of  county  re 
publican  clubs  at  Fern  Dell,  Sauk  county.  This  address 
became  famous  as  the  ' '  Fern  Dell  speech. ' '  In  part  the 
speaker  said : 

The  existence  of  the  corporation  as  we  have  it  today  was  not 
dreamt  of  by  the  fathers.  It  has  become  all-pervasive;  has  in 
vaded  all  departments  of  business,  all  activities  of  life.  By  their 
number  and  power  and  the  consolidation  oft-times  of  many  into 
one,  corporations  have  practically  acquired  dominion  over  the 
business  world.  The  effect  is  revolutionary  and  cannot  be  over 
estimated.  The  individual  as  a  business  factor  is  disappearing, 
his  place  being  taken  by  many  under  corporate  rule.  The  business 
man  and  artisan  of  the  past  gave  to  his  business  an  individual 
stamp  and  reputation,  making  high  mental  worth  an  essential 
element  of  business  life.  Gathered  in  corporate  employ  men  be 
come  mere  cogs  in  the  wheels  of  complicated  mechanism.  The 
corporation  is  a  machine  for  making  money,  demanding  of  its  em 
ployes  only  obedience  and  service,  reducing  men  to  the  status  of 
privates  in  the  regular  army. 

It  is  but  just  to  say  that  no  legislature  has  assembled  in  Wis 
consin  in  many  years  containing  so  many  good  men  as  the  last. 
But  when  a  bill  to  punish  corrupt  practices  in  campaigns  and 
elections  is  destroyed  by  amendment;  when  measures  such  as  the 
Davidson  bills  requiring  corporations  to  pay  a  just  share  of  the 
taxes  go  down  in  defeat;  when  bills  to  compel  hundreds  of  millions 
of  dollars  of  untaxed  personal  property  to  come  from  its  hiding 
place  and  help  maintain  government  fail  of  adequate  support; 
when  republicans  and  democrats  unite  in  defeating  the  Hall  reso 
lution  to  emancipate  the  legislature  from  all  subserviency  to  the 
corporations  by  prohibiting  acceptance  of  railroad  passes,  tele 
graph  and  express  company  franks;  when  these  things  and  many 
others  of  like  character  happen  and  are  made  matters  of  public 


"MENACE-OF-THE-MACHINE"  SPEECH  81 

record  which  no  man  may  deny,  then  that  man  is  untrue  to  his 
country,  his  party  and  himself  who  will  not  raise  his  voice  in 
condemnation — not  in  condemnation  of  the  principles  of  the  po 
litical  party  in  which  he  believes,  or  of  the  great  body  of  its  or 
ganization,  but  of  the  men  who  betray  it  and  of  the  methods  by 
which  they  control,  only  to  prostitute  it  to  base  and  selfish  ends. 
The  remedy  is  to  begin  at  the  bottom  and  make  one  supreme 
effort  for  victory  over  the  present  bad  system.  Nominate  and 
elect  men  who  will  pass  a  primary  election  law  which  will  enable 
the  voter  to  select  directly  candidates  without  intervention  of 
caucus  or  convention  or  domination  of  machines.  Thus  may  a 
permanent  reform  greater  even  than  the  reform  effected  by  the 
Australian  ballot  which  has  so  revolutionized  the  conduct  of  elec 
tions  be  brought  about.  Apply  the  method  of  the  Australian 
ballot  as  embodied  in  the  Cooper  law  to  the  primary  election  and 
let  it  take  the  place  of  both  the  caucus  and  convention.  Furnish 
the  primary  election  booth  with  ballots  as  under  the  Australian 
system  and  print  on  the  ballot  for  each  party  the  names  of  the 
different  candidates  proposed  for  its  nominee  as  candidates  for 
judicial  offices  are  now  proposed;  provide  for  the  selection  of  a 
committee  to  represent  each  party  organization  and  promulgate 
the  party  platform  through  such  committee  composed  of  a  party 
committeeman  elected  by  and  for  the  voters  of  each  party  in 
every  assembly  district  of  the  state.  Provide  severe  penalties  for 
any  violation  of  the  primary  election  law.  Prohibit  corrupt  in 
fluences  in  or  about  the  election  booth  and  insure  an  honest  count 
and  return  the  votes  as  cast.  Provide  that  each  man  receiving 
the  highest  number  of  votes  cast  in  the  ballot  box  of  his  party 
for  the  office  for  which  he  is  a  candidate  shall  be  the  nominee 
of  that  party  in  the  general  election  to  follow.  In  short  pass 
such  a  measure  as  the  Lewis  primary  election  bill.  Under  this 
system  you  will  destroy  the  machine  because  you  destroy  the 
caucus  and  convention  system  through  which  the  machine  con 
trols  party  nominations.  You  will  place  the  nominations  directly 
in  the  hands  of  the  people.  You  will  restore  to  every  state  in  the 
union  the  government  given  to  this  people  by  the  God  of  nations. 

LaFollette's  advocacy  of  the  Australian  ballot  recalls    ' 
the  interesting  fact  that  he  was  probably  beaten  because ./;' 
of  this  very  instrumentality  in  the  only  election  in  which  ' 
he  failed  as  a  candidate  at  the  polls — that  of  1890.    La- 
Follette  has  often  been  beaten  in  caucuses  where  popular 
expression  has  been  limited,  but  only  once  in  the  free 


LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

field  of  an  election.  In  the  election  of  1890  it  was  gen 
erally  expected  that  LaFollette  would  be  returned  to 
congress,  and  the  friends  of  the  democratic  candidate, 
A.  R.  Bushnell,  in  conducting  a  still  hunt  for  him,  as  a 
rule,  conceded  this,  and  asked  support  for  their  candi 
date  on  complimentary  grounds,  thus  gaining  many  votes 
they  might  otherwise  have  lost.  In  the  election  that  year 
the  republican  vote  in  Dane  county  alone  fell  off  about 
1,300  from  that  of  1888,  while  the  democratic  gain  was 
very  slight.  Had  the  full  republican  vote  been  cast  in 
Dane  county  LaFollette  would  have  been  re-elected.  For 
instance,  in  the  five  heavy  Norwegian  precincts  in  south 
eastern  Dane  county — Christiana,  Dunkirk,  Pleasant 
Springs,  Rutland  and  Stoughton — the  republican  loss 
from  the  gubernatorial  vote  of  1888  was  338,  nearly  70 
to  a  precinct,  while  the  democrats  in  the  same  five  pre 
cincts  actually  lost  11  votes,  the  democratic  vote  in  1888 
being  481  while  in  1890  it  was  470.  It  is  said  that  in  the 
town  of  Pleasant  Springs  nearly  70  voters  who  came  to 
the  polls  did  not  vote,  largely  because  of  a  disinclination 
to  marking  their  ballots  which  then  for  the  first  time 
was  required  under  the  Cooper  (Australian  ballot)  law. 

It  was  LaFollette 's  bold  attacks  on  the  administration, 
the  masterly  vigor  and  aggressiveness  of  his  speech,  in 
general,  foreshadowing,  as  it  did,  a  grim  continuation 
of  the  party  warfare  of  the  year  before,  that  made  the 
address  significant  and  made  him  again  the  cynosure  of 
all  political  eyes.  The  press  of  the  state  was  agitated 
and  pretty  generally  took  sides  for  or  against  LaFol 
lette.  His  personality  and  motives  became  the  subject 
of  wide  newspaper  discussion.  His  address  at  the  state 
fair  at  Milwaukee  early  in  September  was  featured  in 
full  by  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel  at  the  time. 

Under  the  heading,  "Wisconsin's  Political  Reformer," 
the  Chicago  Times-Herald,  September  27,  of  that  year, 
contained  the  following  interesting  study  of  him : 


"MENACE-OF-THE-MACHINE"  SPEECH  83 

Robert  Marion  LaFollette  has  taken  upon  himself  the  her 
culean  task  of  stemming  the  advance  of  corrupt  political  machine 
domination  in  Wisconsin  state  affairs.  Propriety  compels  the 
resurrection  of  the  word  reformer  to  classify  him. 

Today  LaFollette  is  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the  Badger 
commonwealth.  He  is  a  machine  smasher  of  the  John  Maynard 
Harlan  type.  He  is  resolved  to  show  the  seamy  side  of  present 
political  conditions,  and  he  is  succeeding.  Other  men  have  tried 
to  do  so  before.  They  have  been  gathered  to  their  fathers.  Naught 
remains  of  their  endeavors  save  the  memory  of  their  failures. 
LaFollette  is  going  about  the  work  in  a  way  peculiar  to  himself. 
Up  and  down  the  state  he  is  marching  preaching  his  doctrine  to 
the  common  people.  His  voice  is  heard  and  Wisconsin  political 
affairs  are  being  shaken  from  center  to  circumference.  Like  the 
fabled  opossum,  who,  when  he  spied  the  unerring  gunner  from  his 
gum  tree,  said  "It's  no  use,  major;  I'll  come  down,"  so  the 
bosses  of  all  parties,  the  men  of  all  shades  of  political  beliefs  and 
unbeliefs,  have  come  down  to  the  level  of  being  interested  enough 
to  assume  a  listening  attitude.  None  of  them  but  admits  that 
the  weapon  is  loaded.  None  of  them  denies  that  the  aim  is 
straight.  All  of  them  impugn  the  motives  of  the  man  with  the 
gun.  All  of  them  agree  that  the  time  is  inopportune  for  pulling 
the  trigger. 

The  proportions  attained  by  the  LaFollette  crusade  for 
greater  purity  in  politics  are  due  solely  and  alone  to  the  man  him 
self.  Others  might  have  said  what  he  is  saying  and  their  words 
would  have  passed  unnoticed.  Into  the  campaign  has  been  in 
jected  the  whole  of  a  remarkable  personality,  a  personality  so 
vastly  different  from  that  of  any  other  that  an  attempt  to  com 
pare  it  is  not  comparison,  but  contrast.  LaFollette 's  personal 
force  and  individuality  command  attention. 

He  is  a  natural  leader  of  men.  He  got  this  trait  from  an 
ancestry  that  was  descended  from  that  iron  race  of  hunters  and 
explorers  who  were  living  along  the  highways  of  the  west  when 
France  handed  over  10,000  people  and  several  future  states  to 
the  English  beyond  the  Alleghanies.  This  life  of  LaFollette  was 
begun  in  a  log  cabin  on  a  Dane  county  farm  forty-two  years  ago. 
Till  his  eighteenth  year  his  time  was  divided  between  farm  work 
and  attendance  uron  the  district  school.  Indomitable  pluck  and 
persistence,  to  this  day  his  predominant  characteris'tics,  enabled 
him  to  work  his  way  through  a  university  course.  He  was  grad 
uated  from  the  state  university  in  1879,  and  after  a  year  of  study 
in  the  law  school  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  Two  terms  as  district 
attorney  of  Dane  county  and  three  terms  in  congress  as  repre- 


84  LiAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

sentative  of  the  old  third  Wisconsin  district  make  the  sum  total 
of  Mr.  LaFollette 's  official  career.  When  in  congress  he  served 
on  the  ways  and  means  committee  with  President  McKinley,  and 
to  him  was  allotted  no  small  portion  of  the  task  of  drafting  the 
famous  protective  tariff  bill. 

LaFollette  's  college  career  was  that  of  a  leader  among  his 
fellows.  A  signal  triumph  marked  his  senior  year,  when  he  was 
the  winner  of  the  interstate  oratorical  contest.  His  subject  was 
' '  lago, ' '  one  for  which  he  had  a  natural  taste.  His  oration  repre 
sented  something  more  than  a  conglomeration  of  words.  It  was 
an  original,  terse  and  critical  interpretation  of  lago,  and  it 
brought  from  Edwin  Booth  the  declaration  that  from  it  he  had 
gained  a  new  conception  of  that  character.  The  oration  was  de 
livered  with  a  force  and  power  that  brought  the  audience  com 
pletely  to  the  speaker  and  everybody  concurred  in  the  unanimous 
decision  of  the  judges  that  the  golden  badge  of  honor  be  awarded 
him.  His  secret  of  his  success  was  his  earnestness.  It  is  the  same 
earnestness  that  now  makes  it  possible  for  him  to  bring  to  see 
from  his  point  of  view  men  who  before  hearing  were  set  against 
him  with  faces  of  flint.  It  is  not  through  his  eloquence  that  he 
captures  the  people.  Neither  does  he  pander  to  their  passion, 
nor  play  upon  their  ignorance.  But  he  has  the  quality  of  making 
men  believe  that  he  is  sincere.  LaFollette  proposes  nothing  that 
is  new.  He  suggests  no  great  changes  in  the  common  or  the 
statute  law  of  the  land.  He  simply  tells  his  hearers  to  see  to  it 
through  the  means  of  the  ballot  box  that  the  men  they  select  for 
public  servants  shall  be  subservient  to  them  and  to  them  alone; 
that  they  shall  not  fall  down  and  worship  in  meek  and  humble 
obeisance  at  the  shrine  of  the  political  machine  or  the  corporation. 

For  his  ' '  heresy ' '  in  enunciating  such  propositions  he  has  in 
the  last  two  months  endured  more  personal  abuse  than  falls  to 
the  lot  of  most  men.  His  every  utterance  has  been  the  brunt  of 
criticism.  His  motives  have  been  impugned,  his  methods  attacked, 
but  his  statements  have  gone  unchallenged.  The  opposition  he 
has  encountered  has,  if  anything,  made  him  the  more  determined. 
He  expected  it.  He  had  reason  to  expect  it.  While  no  man  in 
the  state  has  a  more  devoted  following,  no  man  in  the  state  has 
more  bitter  enemies.  His  whole  life  has  been  an  uphill  fight. 
But  to  him  impossibilities  are  unknown.  His  genius  is,  as  Beecher 
said,  talent  well  worked.  He  knows  that  he  may  be  checked  for 
the  time,  but  he  feels  sure  that  success  will  come  in  the  end.  Six 
years  ago  when  the  portals  of  a  great  career  were  open  to  him, 
he  had  the  courage  to  quarrel  with  a  man  who  for  a  score  of 
years  had  held  sway  over  the  political  ambitions  of  all  men  from 


"MENACE-OF-THE-MACHINE"  SPEECH  85 

Lake  Superior  on  the  north  to  Illinois  on  the  south,  from  the 
Mississippi  to  Lake  Michigan.  The  breach  was  a  serious  one  and 
could  never  be  healed.  Everybody  said  it  sounded  the  deathknefl 
of  the  little  Madisonian.  That  never  again  would  he  be  heard  of. 
They  did  not  know  LaFollette.  Other  men  would  have  sulked  in 
their  tents.  He  went  into  the  fight.  Always  consistent  in  his 
political  beliefs,  he  fought  for  his  party  in  every  campaign.  His 
voice  was  given  to  expounding  its  doctrine,  though  often  he  knew 
that  every  added  success  of  its  leaders  was  another  stone  in  the 
wall  that  was  hemming  from  view  his  own  personal  ambitions. 

A  year  ago  Mr.  LaFollette  announced  himself  a  candidate 
for  governor.  The  men  who  for  years  had  shaped  the  policy  of 
the  party  to  which  he  swore  fealty  did  not  shake  their  heads  and 
say  that  it  would  never  do.  They  did  not  think  they  had  to.  And 
so  the  campaign  was  begun.  After  a  while  there  was  a  rumor  of 
an  intimation  that  the  Madison  man  was  making  a  hard  fight. 
This  did  not  worry  the  machine  leaders.  They  had  been  in  hard 
fights  before  and  had  come  out  unscarred.  Soon  the  caucuses 
were  held.  Men  who  had  never  before  attended  the  primaries 
began  to  exercise  their  prerogatives  as  citizens.  The  local  leaders 
found  it  difficult  to  manipulate  their  own  precincts.  Farmers 
drove  for  miles  to  vote  for  LaFollette  delegates.  Notice  of  these 
things  came  to  the  center  of  machine  domination.  When  the  lead 
ers  opened  their  eyes  they  found  that  a  new  machine  had  sprung 
up  while  they  were  basking  in  the  sunshine  of  their  own  security. 
It  was  a  machine  that  differed  in  every  respect  from  the  kind 
they  had  heretofore  waged  against.  It  was  a  machine  that  urged 
voting  before  the  nomination  of  candidates  as  well  as  after  the 
convention  had  been  held.  It  was  a  machine  that  recognized 
every  man  as  a  sovereign.  It  appealed  for  votes  for  men  because 
of  what  they  had  done,  not  because  of  what  they  intended  to  do. 
It  emphasized  the  equal  rights  of  all  under  the  law,  and  swore 
allegiance  to  no  one  set  of  men.  The  old  machine  girded  on  its 
armor  to  give  it  battle.  All  of  the  intrigues  of  long  political  ex 
perience  were  brought  into  play.  All  of  the  prowess  that  it 
wielded  by  virtue  of  its  control  was  turned  against  the  advancing 
host.  The  new  machine  was  defeated  but  not  driven  back.  When 
the  tiger-strife  was  ended  the  leader  of  the  new  power  joined 
hands  with  the  old  machine  in  giving  battle  to  a  common  enemy. 
Since  that  memorable  struggle  of  "Bob"  LaFollette,  he  is 
said  to  have  a  genius  for  organization.  He  is  a  strong  believer 
in  the  power  of  printer's  ink.  Into  every  hamlet  and  village  of 
the  state  he  sent  the  platform  upon  which  he  based  the  request 
for  suffrage.  Round  about  him  in  his  Madison  office  he  gathered 


86  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

his  friends  and  told  them  what  to  do.  His  was  the  master  mind 
that  directed  it  all.  He  had  no  money  to  spend.  He  would  not 
have  spent  it  if  he  had  had  it.  He  made  no  promises  of  office 
in  event  of  his  success.  Yet  day  after  day  his  fold  of  supporters 
grew.  Men  who  were  opposed  to  him  came  to  see  him.  When 
they  left  they  were  his  friends.  If  they  made  a  second  visit  it 
was  to  bring  others.  These,  too,  left  vowing  that  he  was  the 
man  of  their  choice.  In  some  cases  this  result  was  brought  about 
by  reason  of  the  principles  represented  by  LaFollette.  Most  often 
it  was  brought  about  by  the  personality  of  the  man  himself. 

LaFollette  never  forgets  a  name  or  a  face.  He  meets  many 
men.  Some  of  them  forget  him.  He  always  remembers  them. 
It  is  said  Caesar  knew  every  man  in  his  army.  James  G.  Blaine 
had  the  same  faculty  of  memory.  It  is  a  power  in  itself.  It 
appeals  to  the  vanity  of  men  to  know  that  in  all  the  rush  of  poli 
tics  they  have  not  been  forgotten.  Added  to  this  is  a  charm  of 
personality  indescribable.  LaFollette  knows  how  to  meet  and 
deal  with  men.  All  his  life  he  has  been  a  close  student  of  human 
nature.  He  makes  up  his  mind  quickly  as  to  the  worth  of  a  man. 
Long  experience  has  taught  him  to  read  aright  in  most  cases.  His 
handshake  is  a  grip  that  at  once  establishes  a  fellowship.  It  is 
not  affected.  It  is  the  same  on  every  occasion  of  meeting.  It  is 
given  to  all  friends  whether  they  be  great  or  small,  rich  or  poor. 
The  man  is  essentially  democratic  in  his  tastes.  He  deals  neither 
in  obsequious  flattery  nor  vulgar  sycophancy.  He  looks  men 
straight  in  the  eyes  and  talks  to  them  slowly,  deliberately, 
earnestly.  His  intense  individuality  compels  magnetic  response. 

He  uses  much  the  same  methods  on  the  stump  as  in  private 
conversation.  He  emphasizes  every  point  with  gestures.  He  takes 
men  right  into  the  narrow  circle  of  his  exclusive  attention.  Every 
man  believes  that  the  orator  is  talking  directly  to  him.  It  is  this 
power  that  has  made  LaFollette  foremost  among  the  jury  lawyers 
of  the  state.  He  is  always  courteous  in  answering  questions,  yet 
the  man  who  tries  to  play  upon  his  credulity  finds  him  ready  in 
repartee,  with  a  score  of  strings  for  his  bow. 

Mr.  LaFollette  is  a  poor  man,  but  despite  his  many  reverses 
his  life  has  been  a  singularly  happy  and  genial  one.  The  year 
he  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Belle  Case,  who  had  been  his  classmate  in  the  university  and  to 
whom  upon  graduation  was  awarded  the  Lewis  prize  for  the  best 
commencement  oration.  Besides  her  university  course  Mrs.  La 
Follette  was  graduated  from  the  university  law  school,  being  the 
first  woman  to  receive  a  diploma  from  that  institution.  The  La 
Follette  home  is  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Monona.  It  is  the  house 


"MENACE-OF-THE-MACHINE"  SPEECH  87 

of  a  scholar,  a  student  and  a  husband  and  a  wife  of  letters.  Here 
and  there  and  everywhere  are  books.  LaFollette  is  an  omnivorous 
reader.  He  knows  Hamlet  almost  by  heart.  His  family,  consist 
ing  of  one  daughter  and  two  little  sons,  is  a  most  ha^py  and  con 
genial  one,  and  every  hour  that  the  father  is  away  is  a  sacrifice. 
This  is  Kobert  Marion  LaFollette,  reformer,  leader  of  the  new 
regime  in  Wisconsin  political  affairs. 

From  the  state  fair  LaFollette  entered  upon  a  round 
of  county  fair  speeches,  a  practice  of  ' '  f ollowing-the- 
ponies"  which  was  to  be  kept  up  for  years  and  which 
was  to  prove  one  of  the  most  effective  of  propagandic 
agencies. 

A  study  by  the  Milwaukee  Journal  of  the  LaFollette 
style  of  oratory  at  the  time  may  also  be  of  interest  now. 
It  reads : 

Ex-Congressman  Eobert  M.  LaFollette  of  Madison,  as  an  agri 
cultural  fair  orator,  is  far  and  away  ahead  of  the  usual  run  of 
speakers  who  accept  invitations  to  make  that  sort  of  address. 
Whatever  purpose  he  may  have  had  in  view  in  starting  in  on  the 
tour  of  county  fairs  at  which  he  has  spoken  this  fall,  his  vigorous 
oratory  can  not  have  failed  to  have  left  its  impression  on  his 
hearers. 

Below  the  ordinary  height,  he  is  compactly  built,  and  has  a 
square,  almost  massive  face,  when  his  stature  is  considered,  and 
his  head  is  covered  with  a  thick,  almost  shocky,  growth  of  dark 
brown  hair.  He  is  not  a  commanding  figure  by  any  means,  but 
rather  impresses  one  who  sees  him  for  the  first  time  as  possessed 
of  a  solidity  and  a  bulldog  determination.  But  he  is  a  trained 
and  impressive  speaker  and  knows  how  to  use  hands,  arms  and 
body  as  well  as  words. 

When  brought  before  his  audience  he  measures  at  one  sweep 
ing  glance  the  entire  assemblage.  He  moves  rather  sluggishly  at 
first,  but  is  not  long  in  getting  warmed  up,  and  he  remains 
warmed  up  all  through  his  speech  even  if  it  covers  two  hours. 
This  intense  and  continued  display  of  energy  is  one  of  the  strong 
characteristics  of  the  man,  as  expressed  in  his  work  as  a  public 
speaker,  and  it  rarely  fails  to  bring  his  hearers  to  him  and  to 
hold  their  attention. 

In  most  speakers  such  a  vast  expenditure  of  energy  in  the 
delivery  of  an  oration  would  become  stale  and  tiresome.  But  La 
Follette  is  infinite  in  facial  expression  and  gesture.  Even  much 


88  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

of  his  solidly  knit  frame  is  brought  into  play.  Perhaps  the  secret 
of  his  success  as  an  orator  is  the  fact  of  the  singular  appropriate 
ness  of  each  motion  intended  to  emphasize  his.  expressed  thought. 
They  harmonize.  Does  he  describe  the  horrors  of  the  civil  war 
and  the  fratricidal  strife  that  nearly  rent  in  twain  the  greatest 
people  on  earth,  his  face  becomes  awful  in  its  expression  of  the 
very  feeling  with  which  he  is  attempting  to  impress  his  hearers. 
When  he  refers  to  the  return  of  peace  and  prosperity,  after  the 
years  of  strife  and  bloodshed,  with  arms  raised  and  hands  open 
as  in  benediction,  his  face  wears  an  expression  lit  up  with  the 
glad  brightness  of  the  picture  he  is  drawing.  And  so  all 
through.  He  denounces  the  crushing  greed  and  overbearing  in 
solence  and  corruption  of  the  corporations  and  the  firm  set  lines 
of  his  face,  the  tightly  clenched  hands  and  the  whole  attitude 
of  the  man  are  those  of  a  just  judge  denouncing  the  iniquity 
that  he  has  discovered.  Coming  to  the  picture  of  the  remedy 
applied  and  the  citizens  of  the  republic  again  awake  and  alert 
to  all  the  responsibilities  of  citizenship,  the  face  glows  with 
patriotic  pride  and  the  arms  describe  with  almost  majestic  sweep 
of  the  open  palms  and  victory  of  the  people  and  their  cause. 

And  Mr.  LaFollette  is  sometimes  sarcastic.  His  words  bite 
like  coals  of  fire;  but  his  face  and  gestures  are  unique.  Here, 
as  in  other  phases,  they  harmonize,  and  .with  his  head  slightly 
lowered,  his  shock  of  brown  hair  overtopping  the  face  and  the 
right  arm  extended,  the  index  finger  pointing  apparently  at  the 
very  object  of  his  attack,  there  is  a  certain  fine  frenzy  in  the  man 
that  few  public  speakers  can  use  to  such  advantage.  Again  he 
will  refer  to  the  noble  men  that  have  made  history  in  this  country 
in  past  years  as  a  heritage  of  which  Americans  should  be  proud, 
and  with  clenched  fists  and  uplifted  arms,  he  seems  to  hold  that 
precious  heritage  aloft  and  gazing  at  it  with  open  mouth  and  up 
turned  eyes,  invite  his  hearers  to  see  in  substance  the  very  thing 
his  fancy  has  painted. 

Disgust,  hope,  honor,  avarice,  despair,  love,  anger,  all  the 
passions  of  man,  he  paints  in  strong  words  and  still  stronger 
gestures.  This  may  sound  like  exaggeration — but  into  the  most 
commonplace  of  his  word  paintings  he  throws  the  energy  of  a 
man  apparently  fully  impressed  with  the  whole  force  and  truth 
of  his  statements.  He  never  wearies  and  he  will  not  allow  his 
audience  to  weary.  He  carries  his  subject  and  his  hearers  both, 
and  compels  the  latter  to  listen,  if  he  can  not  compel  them  to 
endorse  what  he  may  say. 

There  is  no  joke,  nothing  frivolous.  He  is  in  earnest  and 
gives  himself  up  wholly  to  the  work  he  is  doing.  It  is  serious 


"MENACE-OF-THE-MACHINE"  SPEECH  89 

work  to  him  and  while  he  may  not  possess  the  finish  of  some  of 
the  noted  orators  of  the  day,  he  certainly  does  possess  their  force. 
He  raises  his  right  arm  and  with  open  palm  there  rolls  from  it 
rather  than  from  his  lips  the  statement  he  is  making.  In  his  left 
he  carries  the  notes  always  carefully  prepared  from  which  his 
speech  flows  as  readily  as  it  does  from  the  mouth  of  the  most 
accomplished  extemporaneous  speaker.  With  most  speakers  the 
presence  in  one  hand  of  a  written  speech  is  a  considerable  draw 
back.  LaFollette  uses  it  as  an  effective  weapon.  It  seems  to  give 
added  accuracy  and  precision  to  his  statements.  He  goes  to  it 
for  inspiration  and  does  not  in  any  sense  occupy  the  time  and  the 
patience  of  his  hearers  by  referring  to  it.  He  seems  never  to  lose 
his  place.  He  uses  the  written  sheet  as  a  man  would  use  a  club 
in  a  fight.  He  holds  it  out  before  his  audience,  grasping  it  tightly 
in  his  left  hand,  and  with  the  fingers  of  his  right  hand  he  taps  it 
impressively,  and  no  one  dreams  it  is  not  a  part  of  the  idea  he 
is  advancing. 

Mr.  LaFollette  is  a  study.  It  may  be  that  you  do  not  agree 
with  him  either  in  premises  or  conclusions.  But  it  can  not  be 
denied  that  he  impresses  even  the  unbelievers  among  his  hearers 
that  he  believes  himself  and  believes  in  the  truth  and  force  of  his 
statements.  Perhaps  this  concentration  of  every  power  in  the  man 
to  impress  his  hearers  with  his  sincerity  is  a  stage  trick,  but  it  is 
well  played  and  beyond  detection.  It  is  real  and  full  of  life  and 
vitality  and  with  the  average  man  who  hears  Eobert  M.  LaFollette 
it  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  any  other  conclusion  than  that  he  takes 
himself  seriously. 

Near  the  conclusion  of  his  speech  as  he  folds  his  arms  across 
his  chest  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  has  done  all  that  can  be  done, 
and  in  a  quiet  and  impressive  way  delivers  his  peroration,  there 
is  a  wonderful  change.  It  is  a  change  that  does  not  detract  from 
your  opinion  of  the  orator,  but  rather  adds  to  it.  You  realize 
then  that  he  has  been  speaking  a  long  time.  He  has  tired  you 
out,  but  you  did  not  know  it  before.  However,  he  does  not  seem 
to  have  become  weary  himself.  As  he  bows  for  the  last  time  and 
withdraws  he  seems  as  fresh  as  ever.  You  are  impressed  with 
the  belief  that  the  man  is  a  sort  of  steam  engine.  He  is  iron  in 
the  sense  that  iron  conveys  the  idea  of  endurance. 

Eobert  M.  LaFollette  is  certainly  a  study. 

The  county  fairs  over  LaFollette  continued  his  propa- 
gandic  work,  speaking  wherever  his  political  or  old  uni 
versity  friends  could  obtain  for  him  a  hall,  a  schoolhouse 
or  a  church. 


90'  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

One  night  he  was  scheduled  to  speak  at  the  village  of 
Argyle  in  Lafayette  county,  where  he  had  spent  some 
of  his  boyhood  years.  Part  of  this  period — after  his 
mother  had  returned  to  Primrose — he  had  lived  at  the 
home  of  a  family  named  Hawley.  After  these  years  he 
was  now  again  a  guest  at  the  Hawley  home.  It  is  re 
ported  that  as  a  boy  he  sometimes  tried  the  patience  of 
the  good  Mrs.  Hawley  by  his  exuberance  of  spirits  and 
a  tendency  to  mischief,  but  a  corresponding  tendency 
toward  contrition  for  his  pranks  made  it  impossible  for 
her  to  harbor  anything  but  a  fleeting  impatience.  On 
this  occasion  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawley  occupied  a  front  seat 
and  as  the  speaker  warmed  to  his  flights  Mr.  Hawley 
nudged  his  wife  and  asked,  "Well,  what  do  you  think 
of  the  boy  now?" 

"Why,  it's  all  right,"  said  the  hard-headed  lady,  "if 
he  only  means  what  he  says. ' ' 

The  next  morning  at  breakfast  her  former  young 
charge  asked  Mrs.  Hawley : 

"Well,  Auntie,  how  did  you  like  my  speech  last 
night?" 

"Why,  it  was  very  fine,  Robert,"  she  replied,  "but 
did  you  mean  it  ? " 

"Oh,  now,  Auntie,"  he  continued,  "how  can  you  be 
so  cruel  as  to  ask  such  a  question?" 

"Well,"  she  replied,  "I  happen  to  remember  how  you 
used  to  promise  not  to  get  into  mischief  again." 

These  meetings  were  not  without  their  incidents.  Of 
one  such  the  following  account  by  one  B.  J.  Daly  is 
given.  Written  a  decade  and  a  half  afterward,  it  shows 
the  vivid  impression  made  by  the  new  political  evan 
gelist  upon  his  hearers  at  the  time : 

I  think  it  was  in  1897  that  I  first  heard  of  LaFollette  or 
heard  him  speak.  It  was  at  a  county  fair  in  this  city  and  was 
shortly  after  Mr.  LaFollette  had  made  sensational  charges  against 
Senator  Sawyer,  who  at  that  time  was  the  great  dominating  factor 
in  republican  politics  in  Wisconsin. 


"MENACE-OF-THE-MACHINE"  SPEECH  91 

Mr.  LnFollette  spoke  from  a  farm  wagon  which  stood  on  the 
race  track  in  front  of  the  grandstand.  The  grandstand  was 
packed  with  people,  who  were  anxious  to  hear  this  modern  David, 
just  going  forth  to  battle  with  the  giants,  and  incidentally  to 
witness  the  horse  races.  For  some  reason  he  was  late  in  begin 
ning  and  evidently  the  hour  assigned  to  the  races  in  the  printed 
program  came  shortly  after  LaFollette  began  to  speak.  Some 
confusion  was  caused  by  the  horsemen  speeding  their  horses  by 
the  grandstand  and  disturbing  the  speaker.  After  this  had  gone 
on  for  a  while,  Mr.  LaFollette  stopped  in  his  address  and  turn 
ing  to  the  men  causing  the  disturbance  he  told  them  that  he  had 
been  given  a  certain  length  of  time  to  speak  and  that  he  proposed 
to  use  that  time.  He  said  that  he  was  late  in  beginning  through 
no  fault  of  his  and  that  any  time  lost  by  noise  or  disturbance 
would  be  deducted  from  their  time  and  not  from  his.  It  was  a 
bold  bluff,  but  effective,  and  there  was  no  further  disturbance. 
Oshkosh  may  have  been  hostile  territory  for  Mr.  LaFollette,  but 
one  thing  is  sure,  that  audience  was  clearly  with  him  and  he  was 
cheered  to  the  echo. 

I  have  heard  a  good  many  political  speeches  before  and  since, 
but  that  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  heard  a  man  attack  his  own 
party  and  point  out  the  sins  it  had  been  guilty  of.  Always  before 
that  time  it  was  the  other  party  that  was  scored  and  advised  to 
clean  house.  But  LaFollette  specifically  and  in  detail  told  how 
the  will  of  the  people  was  being  defeated  by  his  party  bosses  and 
he  invited  the  people  of  all  parties  in,  to  see  how  the  machine 
worked  and  to  watch  the  wheels  go  around,  and  explained  how 
he  proposed  to  improve  things.  He  told  his  plan  for  a  primary 
election  law,  then  an  entirely  new  idea,  and  so  far  as  I  can  learn, 
original  with  LaFollette. 

The  speech  made  a  profound  and  lasting  impression  on  me, 
and  doubtless  on  most  of  those  who  heard  it,  and  convinced  me 
of  the  man's  perfect  honesty.  I  went  away  in  a  dazed  condition. 
I  could  not  realize  that  this  man,  who  scored  the  republican  party 
bosses,  was  himself  a  republican,  seeking  republican  support.  And 
to  the  everlasting  honor  of  the  republican  party  in  Wisconsin,  be 
it  said,  he  got  that  support.  All  the  world  loves  a  lover,  it  is 
said,  and  it  is  equally  true  that  all  the  world  loves  a  brave  man, 
and  certainly  none  but  a  brave  man  would  have  undertaken  the 
mighty  task  which  LaFollette  had  undertaken  and  which  he  was 
just  beginning. 

I  was  a  democrat,  and  always  before  that  time  I  had  gone 
away  from  hearing  a  republican  speech  more  of  a  democrat  than 
ever.  But  here  was  a  man  who  spoke  to  me  as  a  citizen,  not  as  a 


92 


LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 


partisan.  He  did  not  attack  either  party  as  a  party;  he  attacked 
the  bad  in  both  parties,  especially  in  his  own.  Do  you  wonder 
men  were  impressed? 

A  most  unusual  thing  about  his  speech  was  the  bold  way  in 
which  he  named  the  leaders  of  his  party  who  were  responsible  for 
the  corrupt  practices  he  complained  of.  No  gumshoe  methods  for 
LaFollette.  Everything  said  was  open  and  above  board.  No  hints 
nor  glittering  generalities  for  him. 

Since  then  I  have  listened  to  him  often  and  have  been  in  the 
audience  when  he  attacked  the  political  records  of  candidates  of 
his  own  party  in  their  own  community  with  the  candidates  at 
tacked  sitting  there  on  the  platform  with  him.  And  yet  we  have 
been  told  by  his  enemies  that  he  is  not  sincere. 

Well,  maybe  not,  but  those  are  not  the  ways  of  a  double- 
dealer  nor  an  insincere  man.  Surely  if  he  is  not  honest  he  dis 
sembles  well. 


LaFollette  Farm  Home,  Maple  Bluff, 
Madison,  Wis. 


CHAPTER  VII 
Albert  B.  Hall  and  His  Work. 

A  STRONG,  HEROIC  CHARACTER — His  LONG  FIGHT  FOR  ANTI-PASS 
AND  RAILROAD  TAX  LEGISLATION — THE  PASS  AND  ITS  EVILS — SIG 
NIFICANT  REFERENDUM  VOTE  ON  RAILROAD  REGULATION. 

A  SPARE,  swarthy  man,  angular  in  appearance,  and  a 
veteran  of  the  civil  war,  appeared  in  the  legislature  from 
one  of  the  northern  counties  in  1891,  the  year  in  which 
LaFollette  retired  from  congress.  It  was  not  his  first 
experience  in  legislative  work;  he  had,  in  fact,  already, 
served  as  speaker  of  the  Minnesota  assembly — later  re 
moving  to  Wisconsin — but  this  fact  was  not  known  to 
many  of  his  colleagues,  who  little  guessed  as  they  eyed 
him  askance  that  this  modest,  serious  and  industrious 
fellow  member  was  soon  to  be  the  commanding  figure 
of  the  house  and  to  bring  down  upon  his  head  a  storm 
that  was  to  shake  the  state  to  its  farthest  limit. 

This  man  was  Albert  R.  Hall,  and  his  appearance  was 
prophetic  of  the  new  order  oT"things  that  was  coming 
into  being.  Hall  was  the  statesman  of  the  hour  imme 
diately  preceding  the  LaFollette  movement,  the  strong 
est  and  most  influential  individual  force  in  the  state  in 
preparing  the  public  mind  for  the  revolution  to  come 
and  deserves  early  and  distinct  consideration  by  the 
student  of  this  period.  Possessed  of  the  zealot's  faith, 
far-seeing,  patient,  incorruptible,  undismayed  by  failure, 
he  was  the  proverbial  man  for  the  time  when  defeat,  de 
rision,  misunderstanding,  might  be  the  expected  portion. 

He  had  given  deep  thought  to  the  necessity  for  a 
change  in  the  practice  and  substance  of  legislation  and 
on  coming  to  the  assembly  promptly  took  steps  to  put 
an  end  to  one  of  the  great  prevailing  abuses  by  intro 
ducing  a  stringent  anti-pass  bill,  following  this  in  time 


94  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

with  a  measure  to  require  the  railroads  to  pay  a  larger 
share  of  taxes,  ancl  wjth  bills  for  the  creation  of  a  rail 
road  commission.  It  has  been  customary  with  the  op 
ponents  of  LaFollette  to  deny  him  any  credit  for  the 
passage  of  the  anti-pass  law  and  the  rebuilding  of  the 
taxation  scheme  of  the  state  on  its  present  superior  basis, 
the  distinction  of  the  initiation  of  these  reforms  being 
given  to  Mr.  Hall.  How  much  each  of  these  borrowed 
from  or  lent  each  other  is,  however,  a  mere  quibble  be 
side  the  great  fact  that  they  both  urged  these  reforms 
and  worked  in  admirable  harmony  and  co-operation  until 
Mr.  Hall's  death.  Hall  always  gave  LaFollette  a  large 
measure  of  credit.  Had  he  chosen  he  might  have  built 
to  his  own  political  advantage  on  these  claims,  but  Hall 
was  not  the  kind  of  man  to  do  this.  Too  great  a  patriot 
to  be  self-seeking;  too  just  to  withhold  from  any  man 
his  deserts,  he  declared  that  all  considerations  of  justice 
and  polkical  wisdom  demanded  that  LaFollette  be  placed 
in  party  command,  and  refusing  all  proffers  of  support 
for  the  governorship  he  espoused  the  LaFollette  cause 
and  became  himself  a  follower  in  the  ranks.  Also  when 
encouraged  to  become  a  candidate  for  United  States  sen 
ator,  he  replied :  "I  am  not  the  man  to  send  to  the  sen 
ate.  My  work  as  a  legislator  at  Madison  taxes  my  ca 
pacity.  We  must  send  LaFollette  to  the  senate. ' ' 

In  view  of  the  great  influence  the  railroads  had  ac 
quired  in  the  political  life  of  the  state  following  the  de 
feat  of  the  granger  movement,  Hall  set  himself  a  great 
undertaking  in  determining  to  try  conclusions  with  a 
lobby  that  had  grown  increasingly  strong  and  arrogant 
with  time. 

So  potent  had  the  representatives  of  the  so-called 
''third  house" — particularly  the  railroad  representatives 
— become  that  they  were  often  regarded  as  the  real  big 
men  of  the  legislatures  and  were  better  known  than  the 
majority  of  the  lawmakers  themselves.  They  were 


ALBERT  R.  HALL  AND  His  WORK  95 

courted  and  dined ;  members  deferred  to  them  and  sought 
their  counsel  and  approval  in  all  things  of  consequence. 
Lavishly  equipped  apartments  were  maintained  by  them. 
The  names  of  few  legislators  of  those  days  are  now  re 
membered,  but  those  of  the  lobbyists  Ring,  Wiswall,  Lus- 
combe  and  Cheney  survive.  Commenting  on  the  lobby 
power  of  old,  August  Roden  of  the  Wisconsin  State 
Journal  said  editorially  in  January,  1911 : 

Pity  the  poor  lobbyist!  He  can  find  no  place  to  lay  his  head 
in  Madison,  in  or  out  of  the  legislature.  None  so  poor  now  to  do 
him  honor.  Time  was  when  the  lobbyist  walked  the  boards  of 
the  Park  hotel  a  king.  When  he  would  see  a  member  he  did  not, 
as  a  servile  hireling,  go  upon  the  floor  of  the  chamber  from  which 
he  is  now  so  brutally  excluded,  but  sent  for  his  member;  and  his 
member  came.  Indeed  it  was  seldom  that  he  had  to  send  for  a 
member,  for  early  and  late  members  thronged  his  headquarters  to 
learn  the  fate  of  their  individual  measures  or  receive  instructions, 
or,  if  the  lobbyist  were  representing  a  railroad  company,  to  re 
ceive  passes. 

The  writer  remembers  distinctly  the  feeling  of  awe  inspired 
by  his  first  view  of  a  real  lobbyist  in  the  Park  hotel  during  a  ses 
sion  of  the  legislature  a  score  or  more  of  years  ago.  The  lobbyist 
in  question,  now  returned  to  the  bosom  of  his  family  and  to  a  life 
of  peace  and  honor,  was  passing  on  his  way  through  the  crowd 
to  his  apartments  on  the  second  floor.  Apparently  all  who  were 
in  the  hotel  were  there  to  see  him  and  he  stopped  frequently  to 
distribute  from  a  large  pocketbook  railroad  passes.  He  had  the 
haughty,  chesty  air  of  a  circus  ticket  vender  and  seemed  to  resent 
the  request  of  the  humble  members  who  asked  for  favors.  But 
now  Ichabod  is  his  name  for  the  glory  has  departed  from  his 
realm. 

The  free  pass  was  the  great  agency  through  which  the 
railroads  exercised  their  powerful  sway  over  the  legis 
lators  and  the  public  and  it  was  not  until  the  pass  was 
abolished  that  the  grip  of  the  railroads  upon  the  state 
was  to  a  degree  finally  broken.  A  former  assemblyman 
once  said  to  A.  H.  Dahl,  later  state  treasurer:  ''When 
I  was  in  the  legislature  about  all  we  could  do  was  to 
take  care  of  passes."  Commenting  on  this  statement, 
Mr.  Dahl  said : 


96  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

I  know  this  was  true  although  I  never  used  railroad  passes 
myself.  When  first  elected  to  the  assembly  I  was  sent  the  cus 
tomary  bunch  for  myself  and  family  with  the  understanding  also 
that  there  were  unlimited  quantities  for  my  friends,  but  I  felt 
that  the  growing  sentiment  against  the  pass  practice  was  right 
and  returned  mine  with  thanks,  although  I  have  no  doubt  that  I 
thereby  become  unpopular  with  some  of  my  constituents.  Many 
men  who  disapproved  of  passes  were  practically  obliged  to  get 
them  for  their  friends  and  supporters. 

Former  Governor  James  0.  Davidson  also  said:  "I 
was  obliged  to  maintain  a  ledger  in  order  to  keep  track 
of  the  800  or  more  passes  for  which  I  had  requests.  This 
duty  became  such  a  nuisance  and  left  me  so  little  time 
for  other  work  that  I  finally  became  disgusted  and  shut 
off  the  whole  pass  business  so  far  as  I  was  concerned." 

A  Madison  citizen  who  was  a  student  in  the  University 
at  the  time  says:  "It  happened  that  the  stenographer 
of  Ring,  the  Northwestern  lobbyist,  was  a  friend  of  mine 
and  one  day  he  invited  me  up  to  Ring's  headquarters 
at  the  Park  hotel.  I  went  up  and  found  the  stenog 
rapher  busy  in  a  front  office  mailing  out  passes,  while 
in  an  inner  office  Ring  himself  was  handing  them  out 
to  members  as  they  came  in  at  one  door  and  went  out 
of  another.  Ring's  room  also  was  well  stocked  up  with 
a  lavish  layout  of  fine  cigars  and  other  good  things  to 
which  visitors  helped  themselves. 

'  Do  they  all  get  passes  1 '  I  asked  my  friend. 

"  'All  but  Hall  and  a  few  others  who  refuse  to  take 
them.' 

"  'And  how  many  do  they  get?' 

11  'Oh,  we  usually  give  them  what  they  want,  but 
here's  a  fellow  (from  Milwaukee)  who  wants  forty-five, 
so  that  he  can  take  all  his  friends  up  to  the  northern 
lakes.  That's  pretty  strong,  though.' 

"  'Well  the}'  can't  vote  independently  on  measures  if 
they  accept  favors  like  that,  can  they?'  I  asked. 

"  'No,'  replied  my  friend,  'I  don't  think  they  do.' 


ALBERT  R.  HALL  AND  His  WORK  97 

"That  set  me  thinking  and  I  went  away  from  there 
an  anti-pass,  LaPollette  man." 

Besides  influencing  the  judgments  and  votes  of  public 
officers,  the  pass  had  the  further  evil  effect  of  dissipat 
ing  energy  and  interest  m  the  work  of  legislation.  With 
transportation  costing  nothing,  adjournments  were  con 
tinually  being  taken  from  Friday  to  Tuesday  that  the 
members  might  spend  the  intervening  time  in  travel  or 
upon  private  business  at  their  homes. 

This  made  the  situation  particularly  trying  to  the 
more  conscientious  members  who  used  no  passes.  If 
they  lived  at  any  distance  from  Madison  they  could  not 
go  home  because  of  the  expense  and  time  involved. 

About  all  we  could  do? ' '  said  one  such  member,  * '  was 
to  lie  around  Madison  and  swear  three  or  four  days  a 
week.  We  could  get  no  committee  meetings  nor  do  any 
thing.  While  the  other  members  were  having  a  good 
time  attend.ng  to  their  private  affairs  the  framing  of 
bills  was  left  to  the  lobbyists  and  attorneys  of  special 
interests,  who  were  perfectly  willing  to  spare  the  law 
makers  this  work." 

The  energy  and  relentlessness  with  which  Hall  had 
pressed  the  anti-pass  issue  in  the  preceding  campaign, 
combined  with  the  Scofield  cow  exposure,  and  the  plat 
form  declaration  of  the  party,  made  it  apparent  to  the 
legislature  of  1899  that  anti-pass  legislation  could  no 
longer  be  safely  deferred.  As  usual,  Hall  presented  his 
anti-pass  bill,  but  so  difficult  was  it  to  obtain  action 
upon  it  that  it  was  feared  it  would  again  fail.  When 
ever  and  wherever  it  was  brought  up  all  sorts  of  gro 
tesque  mot  ons  and  amendments  would  be  offered  to  de 
lay  action,  in  order  that  passes  might  be  used  to  the  end 
of  the  session.  One  would  exempt  sheriffs,  another  no 
taries,  another  legislators ;  one  would  postpone  the  date 
when  the  law  should  go  into  effect ;  one  ask  delay  because 
of  the  absence  of  some  member,  etc.  In  the  meantime 


98  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

the  members  and  their  families  and  other  favored  per 
sons  enjoyed  the  pass  privilege  to  the  utmost.  But  the 
bill  was  finally  pushed  through  to  the  statute  books.  It 
should  be  noted,  however,  that  it  was  the  last  law  en 
acted  at  the  session  and  was  not  approved  until  May  3, 
1899. 

Hall  had  to  pay  the  patriot's  price  for  carrying  on 
the  battle  for  the  people.  For  years  he  was  subjected 
to  unmeasured  scorn  and  ridicule  by  the  bulk  of  the 
press  of  the  state  and  his  own  fellow  legislators.  Pros 
pective  members  of  the  legislature  would  be  told  by  their 
older  fellows  that  they  would  find  on  coming  to  Madison 
a  queer,  gaunt,  seedy-looking  old  man  named  Hall,  with 
a  squeaky  voice.  He  had  many  crank  notions,  they 
would  be  informed,  and  they  must  look  out  for  him.  It 
was,  of  course,  unfortunate  that  the  party  should  be  sad 
dled  with  such  men,  they  would  say,  but  it  had  to  be 
tolerated.  It  seems  almost  unbelievable  at  this  day,  yet 
the  prejudice  against  him  came  to  such  a  pass  that  when 
ever  Hall  rose  to  speajj:  it  was  made  an  occasion  for  gen 
eral  laughter  and  sneers,  and  one  member  once  intro 
duced  a  resolution  to  have  Hall  appointed  a  committee 
of  one  to  reform  the  state  of  Wisconsin.  Another  legis 
lator  afterwards  confessed  that  it  took  h^m  years  to  over 
come  his  prejudice  and  that  he  did  not  do  so  until  it  oc 
curred  to  him  one  day  to  give  serious  attention  to  a 
speech  by  the  anti-railroad  crusader.  When  Hall  had 
concluded  this  fellow  legislator  had  completely  changed 
his  attitude  toward  him.  He  declared  that  Hall  was 
correct  in  his  views,  and  from  that  time  he  was  a  strong 
supporter  of  the  statesman  from  Dunn. 

This  speech  which  exerted  so  great  an  influence  upon 
a  fellow  member,  by  the  way,  occupied  a  whole  after 
noon  and  was  one  of  the  most  memorable  ever  heard  in 
a  Wisconsin  legislative  chamber.  It  dealt  with  the  sub 
ject  of  railroad  taxation  and  was  compact  with  facts  and 


ALBERT  R.  HALL  AND  His  WORK  99 

statistics,  the  result  of  years  of  deep  and  patient  study 
by  its  author.  Little  divining  the  powerful  reserve  am 
munition  Hall  was  treasuring  up,  his  opponents  had 
made  a  number  of  shallow  and  sarcastic  arguments 
against  his  measures  which  gave  him  the  desired  oppor 
tunity  to  unlimber  his  powerful  batteries  of  argument 
and  invective  and  shatter  Lke  eggshells  the  half-baked 
objections  of  the  railroad  apologists. 

Former  Governor  J.  0.  Davidson  is  authority  for  the 
statement  that  Hall  spent  nearly  $2,000  during  the  legis 
lative  session  of  1895  for  printing  and  postage  in  making 
an  educational  campaign  for  his  anti-pass  and  railroad 
commission  measures.  One  of  the  notable  things  done 
by  him  at  that  session  was  to  bring  about  a  practical 
statewide  referendum  on  his  measures  at  the  spring  elec 
tions  that  year.  While  his  bills  were  pending  in  the 
legislature  Hall  conceived  the  idea  that  a  powerful  in 
fluence  in  their  favor  might  be  exerted  were  a  popular 
vote  taken  on  them  at  town  meetings.  Accordingly,  on 
his  own  responsibility,  he  prepared  ballots  and  a  day  or 
two  before  election  he  sent  them  to  as  many  town  clerks 
throughout  the  state  as  he  could,  requesting  that  they 
be  used  as  an  expression  of  public  sentiment  on  the  ques 
tion  of  railroad  regulation.  All  this  work  was  done  in 
secret  and  unknown  to  the  opponents  of  his  measures. 
Mr.  Hall  was  assisted  by  Mr.  Davidson  and  Joseph  Smet- 
hurst,  a  legislative  clerk,  the  three  men  working  with  al 
most  heart-breaking  energy  for  several  days  and  nights 
to  get  the  material  into  the  mails.  Mr.  Hall's  faith  was 
abundantly  justified  by  the  returns  on  his  referendum, 
a  total  of  some  50,000  votes  being  reported  for  his 
measures,  with  only  about  700  votes  against  them.  This 
expression  was  later  to  prove  a  powerful  weapon  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Hall. 

"While  Mr.  Hall  had  strong  faith  in  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  his  reforms,"  said  Davidson,  "he  was  at 


100  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

times  blue  and  dejected  at  his  many  defeats.  'Don't 
ruin  your  health  for  these  things,'  he  once  said  to  me; 
'you  will  find  it  unprofitable  and  disappointing  in  the 
long  run.'  : 

It  required  the  highest  loyalty  to  principle  to  make 
such  a  fight  as  Hall  led  in  those  days.  The  railroads 
could  flood  the  legislature  with  passes  and  favors,  while 
the  slender  band  of  the  supporters  of  public  interests 
could  offer  no  reward  except  ridicule  and  the  conscious 
ness  of  duty  well  done. 

It  is  now  interesting  history  that  such  a  man  was 
obliged  to  go  hawking  his  anti-pass  resolution  from  state 
convention  to  state  convention  and  from  legislature  to 
legislature  only  to  meet  with  defeat  and  ridicule  for 
years. 

Hall  hailed  from  near  the  little  town  of  Knapp  in 
Dunn  county  where  in  the  isolation  of  the  woods  he  led 
a  quiet,  almost  recluse,  bachelor's  life,  giving  his  chief 
attention  when  not  in  the  public  service  to  the  raising 
of  goats  and  other  livestock  on  a  large  farm.  When  he 
was  serving  his  second  term  in  the  legislature  a  new  rail 
road  map  of  the  state  was  issued  from  the  railroad  com 
missioner's  office.  On  inspection  it  was  found  that  the 
town  of  Knapp  had  been  left  "off  the  map.':  Whether 
or  not  this  was  done  at  the  suggestion  of  the  railroads 
as  a  "cut"  at  Hall  for  his  anti-railroad  activity  was 
never  determined  but  "the  gentleman  from  Dunn"  had 
to  bear  considerable  twitting  as  a  result. 

As  illustrating  this  austere  patriot's  severe  sense  of 
independence  the  following  story  was  told  by  John  W. 
Groves,  later  assistant  superintendent  of  public  prop 
erty:  One  evening  Mr.  Groves  entered  a  barber  shop 
at  Madison  in  a  great  hurry  to  get  shaved  and  offered 
a  man  already  in  a  chair  a  quarter  for  his  place.  At 
this  a  quiet  man  who  sat  at  a  nearby  table  and  whose 
turn  was  due  interrupted  with,  "If  you  are  going  to 


ALBERT  R.  HALL  AND  His  VCRI:  -10,1 

tear  off  your  shirt  for  a  shave  you  can  have  ;my  pjjeqe. ' ' 
Mr.  Groves  did  not  know  the  mau  'Who  had  extended 
him  this  courtesy,  but  thanked  him,  obtained  his  shave 
and  handing  the  barber  a  half  dollar  said,  "Give  that 
man  a  good  shave  and  take  it  out  of  this  for  his  wait 
ing."  When  the  accommodating  stranger,  who  later 
proved  to  be  Mr.  Hall,  had  obtained  his  shave  and  prof 
fered  his  pay  he  was  informed  that  Mr.  Groves,  the  man 
who  preceded  him  in  the  chair,  had  paid  for  it,  where 
upon  he  burst  into  a  passion,  delivering  a  homily  to  the 
barber  on  the  stultification  of  being  put  under  obliga 
tions  to  others  and  forced  him  to  take  a  second  fee. 

Mr.  Hall's  character  and  services  have  been  fitly  im 
mortalized  in  a  bronze  tablet  to  his  memory  set  in  the 
assembly  chamber  of  the  capitol. 

He  is  the  only  man  whom  the  state  has  so  far  seen  fit 
to  thus  honor.  Were  this  tablet  to  be  inscribed  with  any 
tributory  legend,  but  one  word  would  need  be  written, 
"Incorruptible."  This  designation,  the  highest  tribute 
the  ancients  could  bestow  on  their  heroes,  is  likewise 
the  people's  estimate  of  the  character  of  Albert  R.  Hall. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Campaign  of  1898. 

LAFOLLETTE    AGAIN   A    CANDIDATE   TO    KEEP    PRINCIPLES    ALIVE — 

A.  E.  HALL  ATTACKS  SCO-FIELD— GOVERNOR'S  Cow  BECOMES 
FAMOUS — STIRRING  CONVENTION  BATTLE — SCOFIELD  RENOMINATED. 

THAT  Governor  Scofield  and  the  old  party  organiza 
tion  would  again  have  a  serious  fight  in  1898  to  continue 
in  power  had  been  foreshadowed  in  LaFollette's  cru 
sading  round  in  the  fall  of  1897.  The  radical  difference 
in  point  of  view  of  the  two  elements  was  also  shown  in 
the  fact  that  so  far  from  sharing  the  anti-corporation 
sentiments  of  LaFollette,  Governor  Scofield  in  his  first 
message  to  the  legislature  in  1897  devoted  but  seventeen 
lines  to  the  "raJroad  question"  and  simply  congratu 
lated  the  people  of  the  state  on  the  pleasant  relations 
existing  between  them  and  the  roads. 

But  there  were  other  signs.  Governor  Scofield  had 
vetoed  the  so-called  Davidson  bills  for  the  taxation  of 
express  and  sleeping  car  companies.  This  action  pre 
cipitated  a  great  and  acrimonious  controversy,  scarcely 
merited  by  these  bills  which  were  not  very  thorough 
going,  at  least  as  compared  with  the  measures  in  their 
original  form.  As  first  presented  by  Mr.  Davidson  the 
measures  had  some  " teeth"  in  them,  but  after  David 
son  had  succeeded  in  putting  them  through  the  assem 
bly  and  had  obtained  a  favorable  committee  report  in 
the  senate  one  senator  solemnly  asked  that  the  bills  be 
reref erred  to  the  committee  before  coming  to  a  vote.  In 
courtesy  to  the  senator  (and  to  the  express  companies) 
they  were  so  rereferred.  Then,  it  is  said,  the  legislative 
halls  were  flooded  with  express  franks  for  the  carrying 
of  everything  up  to  boats  and  live  stock.  When  the  bills 
reappeared  out  of  committee  they  were  badly  emascu- 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1898  103 

lated.  Davidson  then  declared  that  he  cared  little  for 
the  measures  as  redrawn  by  the  committee,  but  that  they 
might  have  some  value  in  establishing  the  principle  of 
making  the  companies  pay  a  small  tax,  and  accordingly 
they  were  passed. 

Friends  of  Governor  Scofield  have  stated  that  he 
originally  signed  one  of  the  bills,  but  that  later,  on  the 
representation  of  M.  G.  Jeffris,  assistant  attorney  gen 
eral,  he  vetoed  them,  defending  his  action  on  the  ground 
that  they  had  been  passed  without  a  roll  call.  At  any 
rate,  his  opponents  charged  that  he  gave  the  corporations 
rather  than  the  people  the  benefit  of  the  doubt. 

He  had  also  been  silent  on  the  pass  evil  against  which 
A.  R.  Hall  had  been  thundering  since  his  first  appear 
ance  in  Madison.  Accordingly  in  the  spring  of  1898  Hall 
wrote  a  series  of  fiery  letters  attacking  Scofield.  In  a 
scathing  communication  printed  in  the  Milwaukee 
Sentinel,  May  21,  Hall  declared  that  the  people  of  Wis 
consin  in  town  meetings  in  the  spring  of  1895  had  voted 
50,000  to  700  against  free  passes,  and  the  convention  of 
1896  had  adopted  a  resolution  against  the  pass  evil,  yet 
instead  of  making  such  a  recommendation  to  the  legis 
lature,  he  (Scofield)  was  pleased  to  inject  into  his  mes 
sage  the  following: 

Railroads — The  railroads  of  the  state  are  closely  identified 
with  the  development  of  our  agricultural,  commercial  and  manu 
facturing  interests.  Farmers,  merchants,  manufacturers,  miners, 
and  all  classes  of  our  people  come  daily  into  business  relations 
with  them  and  it  is  a  cause  for  congratulation  that  the  relations 
existing  between  the  twenty  or  more  railroads  doing  business 
within  our  borders  and  the  people  of  the  state  are  so  generally 
harmonious. 

In  other  letters  in  the  Janesville  Republican  Hall  as 
serted  that  Scofield  had  franked  his  cow  from  Oconto 
to  Madison  and  then  when  the  fact  came  to  light  had 
paid  the  bill  ten  months  and  seventeen  days  afterwards. 
In  part  the  Hall  phillipic  read : 


104  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Major  Scofield  in  accepting  the  nomination  used  these  words: 
' '  I  pledge  you  that  I  will  not  only  stand  upon  that  platform  during 
the  campaign,  for  the  election,  but  if  elected  will  stand  firmly  upon 
it  during  the  full  term  of  office. "  "  That  Governor  Sco 

field  is  responsible  for  the  defeat  of  the  pass  legislation  many 
familiar  with  the  facts  firmly  believe.  It  is  known  that  he  used 
his  influence  with  members  to  persuade  them  to  vote  against  the 
resolution  and  that  he  denounced  it  as  a  "  d —  — d  humbug. 

Another  gem  in  this  now  celebrated  Janesville  speech  of  our 
governor  is  the  following: 

"I  wish  there  might  be  cultivated  such  a  moral  sentiment  as 
will  put  to  shame  the  man  who  will  not  perform  his  political  duties 
and  who  for  one  cause  or  another  shifts  his  burden  of  the  ex 
penses  of  government  upon  others. ' ' 

It  is  conceded  that  transportation  charges  are  a  tax  and  if 
one  man  avoids  in  any  way  the  payment  of  his  transportation 
charges  it  is  shifted  upon  another.  So  when  the  governor  rides 
on  a  pass  or  ships  his  cow  by  express  on  a  frank  he  ' '  shifts  his 
burden  of  the  expenses  of  government  upon  others." 

I  submit  to  all  republicans  who  believe  that  the  pass  evil 
should  be  abolished,  and  that  the  great  corporations  of  the  state 
should  be  made  to  pay  their  fair  proportion  of  the  burdens  of 
government  it  will  be  but  hollow  mockery  to  renew  its  declaration 
on  the  pass  question,  if  as  its  only  pledge  of  good  faith  it  renom- 
inates  as  standard  bearer  one  who  has  betrayed  his  party  and  who 
is  responsible  for  his  party's  betrayal  of  the  people. 

It  may  here  be  said  that  Scofield  on  his  nomination  in 
1896  had  declared  that  the  platform  of  his  party  was 
his  speech  of  acceptance  and  his  pledge  and  that  he 
would  seek  to  carry  it  out  in  letter  and  spirit.  He  de 
clared  afterward,  however,  that  in  making  that  pledge 
he  knew  nothing  about  the  Hall  anti-pass  resolution  and 
that  he  made  his  promise  upon  an  advance  copy  of  the 
platform  which  had  been  shown  him,  and  which  did  not 
contain  the  Hall  resolution. 

To  lead  the  reform  cause  in  the  campaign  that  year 
it  seemed  to  most  politicians  would  be  a  vain  and  profit 
less  sacrifice.  The  habit  of  renominating  a  governor 
after  his  first  trial  was  one  the  people  could  not  be  ex 
pected  to  disregard  without  the  greatest  provocation. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1898  105 

Edward  Scofield  was  governor.  He  was  an  old  soldier, 
an  experienced  legislator  and  a  man  of  different  mettle 
than  his  predecessor.  Unlike  Governor 'Upham,  he  was 
not  a  man  to  be  frightened  off  after  one  term.  Besides^ 
he  had  the  united  support  of  the  political  machine,  the  \M 
railroads  and  the  big  corporations  generally  and  had  en 
listed  the  press  in  his  favor  by  an  unprecedented  num-~" 
ber  of  appointments  of  editors  to  jobs.  But  he  had 
proved  a  " corporation  governor."  He  had  vetoed  the 
Davidson  bills  for  the  taxation  of  sleeping  car  and  ex 
press  companies,  and  the  war  against  the  form  of  ad 
ministration  exemplified  in  him  had  to  go  on.  To  fore 
stall  any  misunderstanding  and  to  gain  such  advantage 
as  early  action  would  give,  Scofield  announced  his  can 
didacy  for  a  second  time  as  early  as  April  21.  LaFol- 
lette  took  the  position  that,  victory  or  defeat,  a  stand 
should  be  taken  for  certain  things  simply  because  they 
were  right ;  he  was  more  concerned  with  principles  than 
personal  or  party  success,  and  at  a  meeting  with  some 
thirty  of  his  leaders  in  Milwaukee  had  proposed  a  cam 
paign  for  a  platform  alone,  and  without  candidates; 
but  they  declared  that  such  would  be  a  fruitless  course, 
as  the  efficiency  and  value  of  laws  lie  not  so  much  in  the 
statutes  as  in  the  men  in  authority  and  the  spirit  in 
which  such  men  meet  their  obligations. 

Who  would  make  the  sacrifice?  No  one  coming  for 
ward,  LaFollette  was  finally  prevailed  upon  to  take  the 
nominal  as  well  as  the  real  leadership. 

Previous  to  this  other  things  of  great  import  to  Mr. 
LaFollette  had  transpired.     On  March  12,  1898,  he  de 
livered  by  invitation  an  address  before  the  Good  Gov 
ernment  Club  of  the  University  of  Michigan  at  Ann 
Arbor  on  ''Primary  Elections."    This  speech  contained  Ji 
no  new  doctrine,  nor  did  it  differ  materially  from  that   ' 
which  Mr.  LaFollette  had  been  preaching  for  a  year, 
but  being  a  polished  and  powerful  elaboration  and  re- 


106  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

ceiving  wide  publicity  it  attracted  much  attention  and 
is  justly  ranked  among  LaFollette's  great  speeches.  His 
graphic  picture  of  the  workings  of  a  convention  may  be 
here  given : 

But  let  us  follow  this  perversion  of  representative  govern 
ment  to  the  very  end.  The  time  arrives  for  the  meeting  of  the 
nominating  convention.  The  delegates  elected  by  the  intermediate 
conventions  go  from  every  county  to  the  place  designated  by  the 
state  central  committee,  nominally  the  supreme  authority  of  the 
party.  The  gathering  of  delegates,  of  prominent  politicians,  of 
candidates  and  the  friends  of  candidates,  augmented  by  the  mul 
titude  which  contest  always  attracts,  crowd  the  rooms  and  corri 
dors  of  the  hotels,  and  the  streets  of  the  city.  Political  workers, 
not  elected  as  delegates,  many  of  whom  indeed  have  been  defeated 
as  delegates  in  the  local  caucus  and  intermediate  convention,  ar 
rive  early  and  take  active  part  in  the  real  work  of  the  nominating 
convention.  Though  they  may  have  been  rejected  as  untrust 
worthy  representatives  of  the  voters  at  home,  they  frequently  ex 
ercise  a  controlling  influence  upon  the  action  of  the  nominating 
convention,  thus  defeating  the  will  of  the  majority  that  defeated 
them  as  delegates.  They  plunge  at  once  into  the  contest  and  the 
commotion  increases  with  their  onset.  Upon  all  sides  men  are 
hurrying  to  and  fro.  Glib  talkers  are  heard  in  heated  discussion. 
Others  are  quietly  moving  through  the  crowd,  dropping  significant 
remarks  here  and  there,  setting  on  certain  ones  to  talk,  starting 
rumors  and  roorbacks,  loosening  the  tongue  of  scandal  and  false 
hood,  questioning,  doubting,  dealing  in  hints  and  innuendoes,  rais 
ing  false  issues  against  one  candidate,  asserting  that  there  is  a 
division  in  the  support  of  another,  that  it  is  reported  that  an 
other  has  given  up  the  contest  and  withdrawn,  that  another  would 
be  bolted  by  the  Germans  or  Irish  or  Norwegians  if  nominated, 
and  so  on  and  on  to  the  end  of  evil  invention.  Every  hour  the 
excitement  increases.  Investigation  is  baffled.  Explanations  are 
of  no  avail.  There  is  no  chance  for  argument.  The  truth  is  dis 
counted.  Statements  are  as  good  as  facts. 

The  time  approaches  when  the  convention  will  meet.  Away 
in  some  retired  room  behind  locked  doors  the  masters  of  the 
machine  sit  in  qiret  conference.  They  have  issued  their  orders 
to  those  in  nominal  control.  The  procrram  of  the  convention  is 
all  prepared.  The  temporary  and  permanent  chairmen  have  been 
"elected"  in  advance,  notified  weeks  a^o  and  are  present,  each 
with  an  impromptu  speech  of  acceptance  in  his  little  satchel. 
These  men  have  been  selected  by  the  masters  of  the  machine  with 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1898  107 

considerable  judgment.  There  will  be  no  mistakes  made.  Men 
designated  in  advance  will  be  recognized  by  the  chairman  for 
all  important  motions  at  the  ' '  right  time: ' '  All  troublesome  points 
of  order  will  be  promptly  overruled.  All  motions  will  be  decided 
in  the  ' '  right  way. ' '  Tl^se  precautions  have  been  found  necessary 
even  in  the  best  governed  machine  conventions,  for  revolt  against 
the  rule  of  the  machine  is  sometimes  to  be  expected  and  always 
provided  against.  Nothing  is  overlooked  here.  There  is  no  haste, 
no  confusion.  In  the  rooms  of  the  delegates,  in  the  wide  cor 
ridors  of  the  hotel  below,  out  upon  the  street  of  the  city,  the  ex 
cited  mass  may  push  and  surge,  parry  and  thrust,  accuse  and  deny, 
hoot  and  cheer,  but  in  this  quiet  corner  all  is  harmonious  and 
peaceful.  And  it  is  here  that  the  work  of  the  convention  is  being 
performed.  Here  that  the  combinations  are  affected,  here  that 
the  deals,  and  bargains,  and  trades,  and  pledges,  and  promises 
of  appointment,  are  being  made,  that  will  settle  all  the  business 
of  the  convention  at  the  appointed  time. 

Finally  all  is  in  readiness,  the  hour  is  at  hand.  The  bands 
play.  The  delegations  take  their  places  under  the  waving  ban 
ners,  in  the  great  convention  hall.  Thousands  of  spectators  look 
down  upon  the  scene  from  the  lofty  galleries.  At  last  order  and 
quiet  prevails,  but  it  is  the  tense  quiet  of  suppressed  excitement. 
The  nerves  are  tingling,  the  pulses  bounding.  It  is  a  powder 
magazine  of  powerfully  restrained  human  emotions,  a  spark,  a 
gesture,  a  word  and  an  explosion  follows. 

The  nominating  speeches  are  made.  With  each  presentation 
the  supporting  delegates  cheer  and  applaud  and  stamp  and  wave 
fans  and  flags  in  a  furious  demonstration  of  endorsement.  The 
convention  becomes  a  scene  of  wild  disorder.  Men  of  serious  and 
dignified  deportment  in  life  clamber  over  seats  and  rush  back  and 
forth,  frantically  shouting  the  names  of  their  favorite  candidates, 
until  they  finally  cease  from  sheer  exhaustion. 

And  this  is  a  deliberative  body  of  American  citizens,  engaged 
in  the  discharge  of  the  gravest  duty  which  can  ever  be  committed 
to  men,  under  a  representative  form  of  government!  Immortal 
fathers  who  founded  this  republic  I  Let  us  believe  that  in  the 
providence  of  God  your  eyes  are  veiled  from  this  modern  method 
of  nominating  candidates  for  the  high  trust  of  public  service. 

With  the  speechmaking  at  an  end  the  balloting  begins,  but 
there  is  no  lull  in  the  storm.  The  announcement  of  the  votes  of 
each  delegation  is  greeted  with  applause  from  time  to  time,  rising 
above  the  confusion  of  the  canvass  carried  on  by  the  more  active 
members  of  the  convention  as  they  rush  their  workers  from  one 
delegation  to  another  in  eager  quest  for  votes.  The  result  of  the 


108  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

ballot  when  declared,  if  not  final,  is  the  occasion  for  a  storm  of 
cheers  from  the  adherents  of  the  leading  candidates.  Then  the 
balloting  goes  forward  again. 

The  lightness  of  the  obligation  of  the  delegate  to  the  voters 
he  represents,  now  becomes  manifest.  Mjmy  who  have  withstood 
the  blandishments  and  temptations  of  the  canvass  since  their  ar 
rival,  having  recorded  a  vote  for  the  choice  of  their  constituencies, 
hope  now  to  be  able  to  do  something  for  themselves,  in  the  way 
of  political  preferment  and  rush  wildly  for  the  ' '  loaded  wagon. ' ' 
This  is  usually  followed  by  a  stampede  which  closes  the  contest 
and  reveals  the  inherent  weakness  of  a  plan  of  representation 
wholly  without  responsibility. 

The  work  of  the  convention  is  ended.  The  masters  of  the 
machine  have  had  their  way.  The  minority  from  their  quiet 
corner  in  the  hotel  have  ruled  the  great  majority  of  the  plain 
citizens  of  the  state.  The  men  named  as  candidates  are  the  serv 
ants  of  the  minority.  They  know  their  masters.  They  will  serve 
them  well.  There  may  be  anger.  There  may  be  disintegration 
threatened  in  the  party.  But  the  machine  trusts  to  the  white  heat 
of  the  campaign  to  fuse  the  fragments  and  win  the  day.  It  has 
succeeded  many  times  and  they  depend  on  high  partisan  feeling, 
strong  devotion  to  party  principles,  to  carry  the  ticket  through. 
What  though  the  voters  do  not  like  the  candidates  they  will  surely 
prefer  them  to  the  candidates  of  the  other  party  who  have  been 
nominated  by  the  same  methods. 

This  then  is  the  work  of  the  modern  caucus  and  convention. 
No  candid  man  will  dispute  the  facts,  or  claim  that  the  portrayal 
too  strongly  presents  the  defects,  or  assert  that  the  more  debasing 
practices  are  even  hinted  at.  And  this  is  the  practical  result  of 
a  century  of  effort  in  self-government.  In  this  land  of  the  free, 
dedicated  to  the  principles  of  democracy,  climbing  by  the  caucus 
and  the  convention,  the  machine  has  mounted  to  power  in  nearly 
every  state  of  the  union. 

It  controls  in  making  the  laws.  It  controls  in  executing  the 
laws.  It  prostitutes  the  civil  service  and  does  not  spare  even  the 
charitable  and  penal  institutions  of  the  state.  It  increases  the 
burdens  of  taxation  upon  the  homes  and  finds  an  easy  way  to 
allow  some  corporations  to  go  untaxed. 

This  is  government  by  the  caucus  and  convention.  It  is  not 
representative  government.  It  is  not  government  by  the  people. 

Is  there  no  way  out?  Is  there  no  remedy?  Aye,  the  way  is 
open  before  us,  the  remedy  is  at  hand.  Let  us  begin  at  the  bot 
tom.  Under  our  form  of  government  the  entire  structure  rests 
upon  the  nomination  of  candidates  for  office.  This  is  the  founda- 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1898  109 

tion  of  the  representative  system.  If  bad  men  control  the  nom 
inations  we  cannot  have  good  government.  Let  us  start  right. 
The  life  principle  of  representative  government  is,  that  those 
chosen  to  govern  shall  faithfully  represent  the  governed.  To  in 
sure  this  the  representative  must  be  chosen  by  those  whom  he  is 
to  represent.  This  is  fundamental.  A  system  built  upon  any 
other  foundation  is  not  a  representative  government.  By  no  other 
means  can  it  be  established  or  maintained.  The  moment  that 
any  power  or  authority  over  the  representative  comes  between 
him  and  those  who  have  selected  him  to  be  their  representative 
that  moment  he  ceases  to  be  their  representative.  His  responsi 
bility  is  at  once  transferred  to  the  intervening  power  or  authority. 
He  becomes  the  trustee  of  this  new  authority  and  to  it  he  must 
render  account  for  his  actions.  It  is  vital  then  in  representative 
government  that  no  power  or  authority  shall  be  permitted  to  come 
between  the  representative  and  those  whom  he  is  to  represent.  To 
secure  this  every  complication  of  detail  and  method,  in  any  system, 
behind  which  such  intruding  power  or  authority  might  be  con 
cealed  must  be  torn  down  and  cast  aside.  The  voter,  and  the  can 
didate  for  nomination  who  desires  to  represent  the  voter,  must 
be  brought  within  reaching  distance  of  each  other,  must  stand 
face  to  face. 

To  accomplish  this  we  must  abolish  the  caucus  and  conven 
tion  by  law,  place  the  nomination  of  all  candidates  in  the  hands 
of  the  people,  adopt  the  Australian  ballot  and  make  all  nomina 
tions  by  direct  vote  at  a  primary  election. 

Exactly  a  week  after  delivering  hTs  Ann  Arbor  ad 
dress  Mr.  LaFollette  was  called  upon  to  bear  the  loss 
of  his  former  law  partner,  Samuel  A.  Harper,  who  died 
March  19,  1898.  As  LaFollette 's  most  devoted  and 
trusted  friend  and  most  effective  political  promoter,  the 
loss  was  a  sore  trial  at  this  teeming  and  critical  time. 
Mr.  Harper  was  taken  suddenly  ill  with  pneumonia,  fol 
lowing  a  chill  at  his  office,  one  night.  Mr.  LaFollette 
hastened  to  his  bedside  on  returning  from  Ann  Arbor 
and  for  several  days  and  n.'ghts,  without  sleep  or  rest, 
fought  a  tense  and  fruitless  fight  to  save  his  friend's 
life.  Said  the  Baraboo  News  at  the  time:  "Bcb  La 
Follette  is  a  friend  worth  having.  During  the  critical 
illness  of  S.  A.  Harper  at  Madison  lately  ex-Congress 
man  LaFollette  has  been  the  sick  man's  most  constant 


110  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

attendant,  not  having  left  the  Harper  home  in  four 
days." 

Harper  was  a  man  of  h'ghest  ideals  in  public  and  pri 
vate  life,  of  remarkable  political  astuteness  and  organ 
izing  capacity.  He  it  was  who  made  possible  LaFol 
lette 's  first  nomination  for  congress  by  bringing  to  La- 
follette's  support  his  (Harper's)  native  county  of  Grant, 
as  repeatedly  he  did  afterward  in  the  LaFollette  causes. 
His  fa.th  in  the  future  of  LaFollette 's  fortunes  never 
wavered.  The  doubts  of  other  friends  he  would  invari 
ably  meet  with  the  optimistic  and  prophetic  reply,  * '  Just 
watch  LaFollette  grow,"  and  frequently  in  after  years 
LaFollette  remembering  tiiis  would  say  with  misty  eyes, 
"If  Sam  could  only  have  lived  to  see  this!" 

In  first  seeking  the  nomination  in  1896  LaFollette 
simply  made  a  short  and  formal  announcement  that  he 
would  be  a  candidate  and  set  forth  no  principles  or  plat 
form,  but  in  the  announcement  of  his  second  candidacy 
July  15,  1898,  he  issued  a  vigorous  and  ringing  appeal 
to  the  people  of  the  state — an  unusual  procedure  in  Wis 
consin  politics — and  presented  the  issues  that  pressed 
for  solution.  In  part  he  said : 

When  it  is  considered  that  some  of  the  very  corporations  which 
wholly  escape  taxation  furnish  free  transportation  to  public  offi 
cials  under  the  guise  of  an  official  courtesy,  the  pass  and  frank 
question  becomes  an  issue  in  Wisconsin  politics  which  will  never 
be  settled  until  the  use  of  passes  by  public  officials  is  prohibited 
by  law.  The  people  of  the  state  will  brook  no  further  trifling  on 
this  subject.  No  quibbling  or  evasion  will  serve.  No  violation  or 
repudiation  of  platform  promises  will  be  tolerated.  There  must 
be  plain  dealing  and  no  complaint  can  be  made  if  a  bond  of  good 
faith  is  demanded  with  the  pledge. 

The  presence  at  the  state  capital  of  powerful  lobbyists  for 
special  interests,  with  their  private  legislative  chambers — the  oper 
ation  of  which  by  a  sort  of  evil  contagion  extends  beyond  the 
scope  of  their  original  employment  to  the  defeat  of  every  good 
measure  possible — demands  the  enactment  and  enforcement  of 
laws  that  shall  make  this  method  of  influencing  legislators  a  pun- 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1898  111 

ishable  offense  in   the  same  manner  as  improperly  approaching 
judge  or  jury  in  a  court  of  justice. 

That  measures  to  make  untaxed  property  bear  a  part  of  the 
burden  of  government,  to  effectively  prohibit  corrupt  practices 
in  campaigns,  and  elections,  to  secure  all  possible  relief  from  com 
binations  and  trusts  that  destroy  competition  and  restrain  trade, 
to  prohibit  the  acceptance  and  use  of  railroad  passes,  sleeping 
car  passes,  express,  telephone  and  telegraph  franks  by  public 
officials  have  not  found  a  place  on  the  statute  books  of  our  state 
proves  that  an  all-powerful  influence,  hostile  to  the  common  in 
terest,  controls  official  action.  The  people  have  come  to  know 
that  it  controls  caucuses,  names  delegates,  nominates  candidates, 
directs  legislation  and  dominates  state  administrations.  The  time 
has  come  when  the  people  of  Wisconsin  will  no  longer  submit  to 
minority  control  through  any  political  machine,  when  they  will 
demand  the  abolition  of  the  caucus  and  convention — by  the  easy 
manipulation  of  which  the  machine  rules — and  will  claim  for  them 
selves  the  sovereign  right  to  make  their  own  nominations  by  direct 
vote  at  a  primary  election  under  an  Australian  ballot. 

A  sharp  campaign  by  the  Scofield  and  LaFollette  par 
tisans  for  the  election  of  delegates  followed.  As  in  the 
campaigns  of  1894  and  1896  LaFollette  opened  a  big 
correspondence  bureau,  to  which  in  this  campaign  he  '? 
added  pamphleteering,  and  this  feature  was  not  lost  to 
the  administration  which  did  likewise. 

A.  J.  Dodge,  writing  in  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel  July 
30,  1898,  said: 

In  the  Fairchild  block,  Main  and  Pinckney  streets,  Mr.  La 
Follette  has  his  law  office.  This  appears  to  be  the  busiest  law 
office  in  Wisconsin  these  days.  Clients  are  passing  UP  and  down 
stairs  all  hours  of  the  day  and  far  into  the  night.  Six  or  seven 
rooms  are  occupied  by  LaFollette  and  his  lieutenants  and  assist 
ants.  Here  and  in  the  office  of  'The  State*  is  located  the  La 
Follette  "machine." 

It  is  a  headquarters,  a  gigantic  liternrv  bureau  and  a  meet 
ing  place  for  the  clan  of  the  Madison  candidate.  Tons  of  litera 
ture  and  thousands  of  letters  pour  out  of  these  rooms  and  the 
work  which  was  so  effective  as  to  place  Mr.  LaFollette 's  name 
in  the  lead  on  the  first  ballot  in  the  last  state  convention  is  done 
here.  A  force  of  stenographers  and  typewriters  and  a  dozen  or 
fifteen  young  men  and  women  are  engaged  in  getting  out  the  let- 


112  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

ters  and  printed  matter  which  are  daily  poured  through  the  mails 
to  the  people  of  the  state. 

Since  the  LaFollette  bureau  opened  for  work  in  the  prelim 
inary  campaign  there  had  been  sent  out  of  the  bureau  first  a 
circular  letter  by  Mr.  LaFollette  announcing  his  candidacy  and 
inviting  attention  to  the  principles  he  set  forth  in  his  formal  letter 
of  announcement  that  has  been  published.  The  letter  also  invites 
the  personal  and  active  support  of  the  person  addressed.  Accom 
panying  the  letter  is  a  printed  copy  of  the  announcement  made 
by  Mr.  LaFollette  when  he  entered  the  race,  sent  in  the  form  of 
an  address  to  the  republicans  of  Wisconsin.  The  next  document 
issued  from  the  room  was  a  four-page  circular,  six  columns  to 
the  page,  entitled  ' '  Eobert  M.  LaFollette,  His  Eecord  as  a  Citizen, 
Official  and  Kepublican. ' '  This  is  made  up  of  extracts  from 
speeches,  newspaper  comment,  sketch  of  the  candidate,  etc.  An 
other  document  issued  by  the  bureau  is  entitled  ' '  Republicans 
Bally  to  the  Caucuses. ' '  It  contains  the  words  ' '  Please  Post ' '  and 
is  a  series  of  questions  relating  to  platform  pledges,  passes  to  pub 
lic  officials,  taxation,  primary  election  law,  and  economy  in  state 
administration.  The  last  document  is  a  printed  copy  of  the  ' '  Reply 
of  President  Pullen  of  the  Milwaukee  Republican  Club  to  Sen 
ator  John  C.  Spooner. " 

Governor  Scofield  and  his  friends  and  supporters  in  the  capital 
also  have  a  literary  bureau.  This  bureau  has  sent  out  seven  docu 
ments  as  follows :  A  copy  of  the  ' '  Story  of  the  Sleeping  Car  and 
Express  Bills;  "  a  copy  of  an  editorial  from  the  Madison  Journal 
entitled  ' '  Unwarranted  Criticism ;  "  an  article,  ' '  Is  Governor  Sco 
field  's  Administration  Extravagant?",  prepared  by  W.  J.  Scott, 
superintendent  of  public  property ;  also  a  leaflet,  ' l  Governor  Sco 
field  and  the  Corporations,"  and  an  extract  from  the  governor's 
Janesville  speech;  another  document  on  "Governor  Scofield  and 
Working  Men's  Wasres;  "  also  a  cony  of  Senator  Spooner 's  article 
on  the  gubernatorial  contest  as  printed  in  the  Sentinel.  Another 
document  reproduces  K.  K.  Kennan's  article  in  the  Sentinel,  "Are 
License  Fees  Taxed?",  "Was  Governor  Scofield  Justified  in  AT->to- 
ing  the  Express  and  Sleeping  Car  Bills?"  These  documents  are 
printed  and  circulated  by  friends  of  Governor  Scofield  in  the 
capitol. 

About  the  same  time  the  State  Journal  commented  as 
follows : 

WHERE  DOES   THE   MONEY   COME   FROM? 

More  money  is  being  spent  in  behalf  of  Mr.  LaFollette  than 
was  ever  expended  on  behalf  of  any  man  seeking  a  nomination 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1898  113 

in  the  state.  Mr.  LaFollette  has  spent  a  good  share  of  a  year 
and  a  half  in  speaking  tours.  Mr.  Hall  has  devoted  months  to 
traveling  through  the  counties  holding  conferences  and  making 
organizations  in  favor  of  LaFollette.  A  newspaper  office  has 
been  established  here,  not  to  publish  a  newspaper  but  simply  a 
LaFollette  organ.  Thirty  thousand  copies  of  it  are  being  dis 
tributed  weekly.  An  army  of  typewriters  and  clerks  are  employed 
in  writing  letters  and  addressing  circulars  and  newspapers.  In 
Milwaukee  150,000  pamphlets  have  been  printed  and  sent  and 
letters  and  circulars  are  being  distributed  by  the  bushel.  All 
this  costs  a  great  deal  of  money. 

Alarmed  at  the  aggressive  campaign  at  once  set  in 
motion  by  LaFollette  following  his  announcement,  the 
administration  invoked  the  counteracting  aid  of  Senator 
Spooner.  July  25,  ten  days  after  LaFollette 's  announce 
ment  was  made,  a  two  column  interview  with  Senator 
Spooner  was  printed  in  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel.  Pre 
pared  with  great  care,  it  was  expected  to  crush  the 
aspirations  of  LaFollette  and  at  the  same  time  refute 
the  insistent  charges  of  A.  R.  Hall,  though  oddly  enough 
Senator  Spooner  had  declared  on  returning  to  Wisconsin 
but  a  few  days  before  that  he  knew  nothing  about  condi 
tions  in  the  state,  having  been  in  Washington  for  two 
years  and  he  therefore  deemed  it  improper  for  him  to 
express  any  opinions.  Then  he  went  to  the  other  ex 
treme  of  issuing  a  long  interview. 

The  interview  was  mainly  a  defense  of  Scofield 
against  the  charge  of  being  a  corporation  governor  and 
in  defense  of  corporation  legislation  in  general  in  Wis 
consin,  much  of  which  he  had  earlier  helped  to  advance 
while  a  paid  lobbyist  at  Madison.  It  contained  among 
other  things  a  long  and  ingenious  lawyer's  plea  for  the 
failure  of  his  client  to  urge  anti-pass  legislation,  the 
claim  being  made  that  since  the  anti-pass  plank  was 
adopted  by  the  convention  of  1896  apart  from  the  plat 
form  it  was  not  part  of  such  platform,  but  simply  an 
afterthought,  as  it  were,  and  not  binding  upon  the  offi 
cials  elected  upon  it. 

8 


114  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OP  WISCONSIN 

The  Sentinel  itself  criticised  the  interview  as  a  plea 
for  the  corporations  that  would  fail  of  its  purpose.  It 
said:  "He  has  laid  too  much  stress  on  the  governor's 
war  record  which  is  not  an  issue,  and  he  has  made  no 
reference  whatever  to  the  only  charge  which  has  given 
Governor  Scofield 's  friends  uneasiness.'' 

The  Republican  club  of  Milwaukee  county,  through 
President  Pullen,  at  once  issued  a  reply  to  the  Spooner 
letter.  Declaring  there  was  no  precedent  for  a  United 
States  senator  seeking  to  influence  a  nomination  for  gov 
ernor,  Mr.  Pullen  said : 

He  is,  as  he  admits,  unfamiliar  with  the  situation  in  our  state 
politics.  He  has  no  information  to  give  the  people  which  the  sup 
porters  of  Governor  Scofield  had  not  made  public  before.  He 
adds  nothing  to  the  discussion  except  some  flowers  of  rhetoric  and 
the  influence  of  his  position  as  United  States  senator.  Under 
these  conditions  the  only  purpose  that  Senator  Spooner  could 
have  in  making  the  statements  published  in  the  Sentinel  is  to  use 
the  position  which  he  now  occupies — and  in  which  he  was  placed 
not  less  by  the  supporters  of  Mr.  LaFollette  than  of  Governor 
Scofield — in  the  interests  of  the  latter.  How  desperate  the  situa 
tion  to  call  for  such  heroic  action  the  making  of  the  statement 
testified. 

Immediately  after  giving  out  his  interview  Senator 
Spooner  left  for  Nan  tucket  and  was  absent  for  the  re 
mainder  of  the  season. 

Another  incident  that  temporarily  caused  the  admin 
istration  no  little  worry  and  embarrassment  was  the  so- 
called  "doodle-book"  exposure,  made  just  a  week  before 
the  republican  state  convention  was  held.  The  easy  prac 
tice  had  grown  up  in  the  state  treasury  of  permitting 
its  employes  to  draw  their  pay  in  advance.  From  the 
treasury  employes  it  had  spread  to  persons  in  other  de 
partments  until  the  practice  had  become  almost  general 
in  the  statehouse. 

LaFollette  men  in  the  treasury  soon  discovered  that 
the  exposure  of  this  practice  would  be  damaging  to  the 
administration  and  gave  the  story  to  the  newspapers 


CAMPAIGN  OF  1898  115 

who  featured  it  in  a  sensational  manner.  When  the 
story  appeared  August  12  both  Governor  Scofield  and 
State  Treasurer  S.  A.  Peterson  issued  statements  that 
the  practice  had  been  ' '  customary, ' '  but  admitted  it  was 
irregular  and  that  it  would  be  stopped.  To  counteract 
the  advantage  given  the  anti-Scofield  forces  by  this  ex 
posure  the  administration  supporters  charged  LaFollette 
with  receiving  financial  aid  through  state  money,  but 
he  entered  vigorous  denial  and  denounced  the  practice. 
Amid  regrets  from  its  beneficiaries  and  speeded  by 
doggerel  pleasantries,  the  "doodle-book,"  which  had 
been  a  brief  joy  of  the  paragraphers,  thus  passed  out  of 
existence. 


CHAPTER  IX 

The  Milwaukee  Movement. 

IMPORTANT  MORAL  AND  FINANCIAL  AID  GIVEN  EEFORM  CAUSE — 
REPUBLICAN  CLUB  OF  MILWAUKEE  COUNTY  FORMED — C.  F.  P. 
PULLEN  GIVES  HISTORY — BAUMGARTNER  AND  His  WORK. 

IN  THE  meantime  a  powerful  rebellion  against  the  ad 
ministration  was  crystallizing  in  Milwaukee  in  the  shape 
of  The  Republican  club,  .of  -Milwaukee-  county.  Because 
ofTTTe  important  moral  and  financial  stimulus  given  the 
reform  cause  at  this  critical  time  by  this  organization, 
a  br^ef  notice  of  the  Milwaukee  movement  may  be  of 
value. 

As  the  citadel  of  the  ''machine"  and  the  magnetic 
pole  of  the  big  business  and  big  politics  of  the  state,  Mil 
waukee  might  be  expected  to  furnish  the  best  exempli 
fication  of  machine  politics,  which  it  did.  Here  were 
developed  those  high  types  of  the  practical  politician 
seen  in  Henry  C.  Payne,  E.  C.  Wall  and  Dave  Rose, 
who  made  politics  and  business  synonymous. 

The  aggressive  designs  of  the  street  railway  company 
and  other  corporations  as  exemplified  in  these  men  had 
led  to  much  complaint  and  sporadic  anti-machine  or 
ganizations,  and  the  nomination  for  mayor  about  this 
time  of  such  men  as  W.  G.  Rauschenberger  and  Henry 
J.  Baumgartner  was  a  protest  against  high-handed 
machine  politics. 

That  such  practices  were  giving  concern  to  thoughtful 
and  conservative  men  was  further  shown  in  the  fact  that 
Horace  Rublee,  editor  of  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  soon 
to  close  his  distinguished  editorial  career,  advised  the 
withdrawal  from  politics  of  men  of  the  Henry  Payne 
type. 


THE  MILWAUKEE  MOVEMENT  117 

The  republican  reform  movement,  as  part  of  the  larger 
state  movement,  manifested  itself  in  a  small  way  in  Mil 
waukee  as  early  as  1894.  Theodore  Zillmer,  later  sheriff, 
was  one  of  the  first  insurgents  against  the  state  and 
local  machines,  as  were  A.  E.  Kuolt  and  former  Senator 
John  J.  Kempf .  Kempf  had  been  a  state  senator  in  the 
'80s  and  had  been  nominated  and  elected  register  of 
deeds  in  1892  in  the  face  of  strong  opposition  from  the 
machine.  This  opposition  had  made  Kempf  an  insur 
gent,  as  it  had  Kuolt  and  others.  Before  the  state  con 
vention  in  1894  was  held,  Kuolt  had  been  offered  $100 
and  the  best  suit  of  clothes  in  Milwaukee  by  a  later  high 
state  official,  now  dead,  if  he  would  give  up  his  proxy 
to  the  convention.  This  offer  simply  confirmed  Kuolt 's 
opposition  to  the  machine.  Accordingly,  in  the  conven 
tion,  Kuolt  regarding  Haugen  as  the  anti-machine  candi 
date,  voted  for  him  from  the  first  ballot.  The  Haugen 
vote  from  Milwaukee  cou-nty  went  steadily  up  until  it 
reached  about  20,  Sam  Harper  of  Madison  being  active 
in  bringing  about  this  result.  After  this  convention 
Zillmer,  Kuolt,  Henry  J.  Baumgartner,  Kempf  and  a 
few  others  met  and  discussed  plans  of  fighting  the  ma 
chine.  In  1896,  chiefly  under  Zillmer 's  leadership,  they 
secured  a  majority  of  the  county  delegation  for  LaFol- 
lette,  but  many  of  the  delegates  were  switched  away  from 
LaFollette  the  night  before  the  nominations  were  made. 
Proof  of  bribery  was  later  given  the  Milwaukee  insur 
gents  from  various  sources,  they  declared. 

In  the  spring  of  1898  the  anti-machine  republicans  so- 
called  had  made  a  hard  fight  to  secure  the  nomination 
of  jlenry  J.  Baumgartner  for  mayor,  in  opposition  to 
the  Payne  and  street  railway  machine.  William  Geuder, 
the  republican  machine  candidate,  was  nominated,  but 
a  Baumgartner,  public-ownership  platform  was  adopted 
with  a  view  to  placating  the  Baumgartner  following. 
Geuder  was  defeated  by  Dave  Rose,  democrat,  the  street 
railway  candidate,  then  elected  for  the  first  time. 


118  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Immediately  following  his  defeat  for  the  nomination 
and  that  of  the  republican  ticket  in  the  election,  friends 
of  Baumgartner  resolved  to  organize  for  the  defeat  of 
the  ''machine"  in  the  future.  Then  it  occurred  to  the 
minds  of  some  of  the  insurgent  republicans  to  broaden 
the  scheme  of  organization  by  taking  a  stand  for  certain 
large  reforms  of  state  interest  and  making  an  appeal  to 
the  voters  upon  them.  Out  of  this  grew  the  club  which 
may  be  said  to  have  germinated  in  the  law  office 
shage,  Tarrant1J|cGovern_&  D^elmann. 

The  idea  of  some  sort  of  club  had  been  discussed  at 
various  preliminary  meetings,  Judge  Eugene  S.  Elliott 
being  among  others  who  favored  it.  One  evening  F.  E. 
McGovern,  later  governor,  was  designated  to  represent 
his  law  firm  at  a  meeting  to  discuss  a  scheme  of  organiza 
tion.  Nothing  came  of  this  meeting  owing  to  a  division 
on  the  question  of  a  closed  or  open  organization,  so  to 
speak,  Mr.  McGovern  opposing  anything  which  resem 
bled  Tammanyism  and  standing  out  for  an  organization 
of  such  a  broad  character  that  it  could  confidently  go 
before  the  people.  "It's  the  only  way  we  can  win," 
he  said;  "the  republicans  never  got  anything  here  by 
gumshoe  methods." 

At  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  John  J.  McGovern  and  others, 
a  meeting  was  called  at  the  law  office  of  Kronshage, 
Tarrant,  McGovern  &  Dielmann,  Wednesday  evening, 
April  20,  1898,  and  the  nucleus  of  the  club  was  formed. 
Seven  men  were  present  at  this  first  meeting,  according 
to  the  records  which  have  come  down,  they  being  Dr. 
J.  J.  McGovern,  A.  E.  Kuolt,  C.  H.  Trumpf,  H.  J.  Baum 
gartner,  A.  F.  Zentner,  Theodore  Zillmer  and  John  J. 
Kempf.  It  is  probable  that  there  were  at  least  two 
others  present,  F.  E.  McGovern,  who,  according  to  the 
memory  of  some,  brought  the  keys  and  opened  the  office, 
and  W.  D.  Tarrant,  who,  according  to  Dr.  McGovern 's 
recollection,  presided  informally  at  the  meeting,  Kron- 


THE  MILWAUKEE  MOVEMENT  119 

shage  being  in  the  east  at  that  time  trying  a  case.    Theo 
dore  Zillmer  acted  as  secretary. 

The  next  meeting  was  held  in  the  same  office  April  29, 
John  J.  Kempf  acting  as  president  and  Mr.  Z.llmer  as 
secretary.  To  this  meeting  came  an  additional  score  of 
insurgents,  C.  M.  Paine,  W.  D.  Tarrant,  George  Sey- 
bold,  F.  F.  Hyde,  Thomas  W.  Sheriffs,  F.  C.  Lorenz,  E. 
W.  Choinski,  C.  A.  Menges,  J.  W.  S.  Tomkiewicz,  David 
Harlowe,  W.  E.  Van  Altena,  Charles  Elkert,  John  Han- 
nan,  James  Marlett,  Charles  Dielmann,  L.  J.  Kreutzberg, 
James  L.  Norman,  John  C.  Vogenitz,  A.  J.  Stoessel,  C. 
C.  Maas,  D.  F.  Sherman,  M.  D.  Kelly,  J.  E.  Corrigan 
and  Fred  W^nkel. 

Steps  toward  permanent  organization  were  decided 
upon  at  this  meeting,  and  Chairman  Kempf  appointed 
the  following  committees:  On  principles  and  resolu 
tions,  Messrs.  Paine,  Baumgartner,  Sheriffs,  Lorenz  and 
Trumpf;  on  permanent  organization  and  by-laws, 
Messrs.  Lorenz,  Kuolt,  Stoessel,  Harlowe  and  Corrigan. 
It  was  voted  to  invite  to  the  next  meeting  representatives 
from  all  wards  of  the  city  who  might  be  interested  in 
the  movement. 

At  the  next  meeting,  May  6,  which  was  the  first  meet 
ing  of  the  club  as  such,  the  following  were  also  present 
and  added  to  the  membership :  F.  E.  McGovern,  Charles 
Van  Ewyk,  W.  G.  Rauschenberger,  C.  F.  P.  Pullen,  H. 
0.  Reinholdt,  A.  Markert,  G.  W.  Petermann,  Richard 
Schmidt,  W.  T.  Duke,  Joseph  Vallier,  George  Reinholdt, 
George  Brew,  E.  D.  Carter,  M.  N.  Lando,  H.  A.  Martin 
and  August  Sonnemann. 

Fifty-five  men  signed  the  roll  of  the  club  that  evening. 
The  name  of  "The  Republican  Club  of  Milwaukee, 
County"  was  decided  upon  for  the  organization  and  it 
was  voted  that  the  club  should  consist  of  three  members 
from  each  ward,  town,  village  and  city  of  the  fourth 
class  in  Milwaukee  county.  Each  ward,  village,  town 


120  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

and  city  was  also  to  form  an  auxiliary  club,  with  similar 
officers  to  the  main  club  and  a  committee  to  consist  of 
the  officers  and  three  other  members.  Also  each  auxiliary 
was  to  elect  three  members  to  represent  the  auxiliary 
in  the  main  club. 

Previous  to  this  meeting  Messrs.  Baumgartner,  Zill- 
mer  and  Zentner  had  visited  R.  M.  LaFollette  in  Madi 
son  and  obtained  a  set  of  principles  which  were  reported 
at  this  meeting  and  adopted  by  the  club.  They  were 
brief  and  read  as  follows : 

As  members  of  the  republican  party  Tve  cherish  the  glory  of 
its  illustrious  past  and  proclaim  an  abiding  faith  in  its  greater 
future.  With  affection  and  reverence  for  its  leaders,  living  and 
dead,  we  here  declare  our  devotion  to  its  enduring  principles. 

We  view  with  increasing  alarm  the  encroachments  of  the 
political  machine  in  its  control  of  the  great  political  parties  of 
this  state.  It  has  steadily  increased  its  power  until  it  threatens 
to  subvert  the  principles  of  representative  government  in  the 
choice  of  candidates  for  office,  in  state  and  federal  appointments, 
and  in  the  enactment  and  administration  of  the  laws  of  the  state. 
And  we  here  declare  our  unalterable  opposition  to  the  political 
machine  and  its  methods. 

We  here  pledge  ourselves  to  use  all  honorable  means  to  secure 
the  nomination  of  candidates  for  office  known  to  be  loyal  and 
steadfast  to  the  following  principles: 

1.  Equal   and   just   taxation   of   all  the   property   of   each   in- 
individual   and  of  every  corporation  transacting  business  within 
the  state. 

2.  The  abolition  of  the  caucus  and  convention  and  the  nom 
ination  of  candidates  by  Australian  ballot  at  a  primary  election. 

3.  The    prohibition    of    the    acceptance    of    railroad    passes, 
sleeping  car   passes,   express,  telegraph  and  telephone  franks  by 
public  officials. 

4.  The  enactment  and  enforcement  of  laws  prohibiting  trusts 
and  combinations  that  destroy  competition  and  restrain  trade. 

Officers  were  elected  as  fellows:  President,  C.  F.  P. 
Prllen ;  vice  president,  Francis  E.  McGovern;  secretary, 
Albert  E.  Kuolt ;  treasurer,  Charles  H.  Trumpf .  It  was 
voted  to  held  the  next  meeting  in  Room  13,  the  Metro 
politan  block,  same  building. 


THE  MILWAUKEE  MOVEMENT  121 

Caucus  6th  Ward 

Friday,  Aug.  12th,  1898 
If  you  favor  the  nomination  of 

Robert  M.  La  Follelte, 

FOR    GOVERNOR, 

Vote  for  the  following  1  delegates  to  the 
STATE  CONVENTION 

FRED.  W.  CORDS     X 
JAKE  HART     X 
OTTO   SEIDEL,  Jr.     X 
HUGO    ZEDLER     X 
CHAS.  VAN  EWEYK     X 
J.  L.  NEDDERSON     X 
H.  A.  SCHWARTZBURG    X 


BOOTHS  open  at  12  NOON  and  close  at  8  P.  M. 
Voters  living  west  of  Third  Street  vote  at 
Booth  on  Sherman  Street,  near  5th.  Voters 
living  east  of  Third  S'treet  vote  at  Booth 
on  Lloyd  Street  near  Island  Avenue. 


Sample  Milwaukee  Caucus  Ticket,  1898 


122  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

On  May  16  the  club  added  the  following  new  mem 
bers  :  Otto  Seidel,  Charles  P.  Hart,  Otto  L.  Hahn,  F.  T. 
Souther,  William  Gerbardt,  Emil  Umfried,  A.  G.  R. 
Tews,  L.  B.  Stiles,  Ira  Lundy,  M.  J.  Brew,  George 
Stelloh,  while  among  others  added  later  were  Zeno  M. 
Host,  William  A.  Arnold,  Christ.  Doerfler,  William  Bahr, 
W.  J.  McElroy,  Theodore  Puls  and  Adolph  Kurtz. 
Robert  M.  LaFollette  had  that  day  announced  his  candi 
dacy  for  the  governorship  and  the  announcement  created 
the  liveliest  interest  among  the  club  members  at  the 
meeting.  At  this  meeting  also  it  was  voted  to  print 
50,000  copies  of  the  principles  of  the  club  in  English 
and  German,  and  10,000  copies  in  English  and  Polish, 
for  distribution. 

The  auxiliary  ward  organizations  grew  rapidly,  and 
at  the  weekly  meeting,  May  23,  the  following  ward  com 
mittees  were  announced : 

First  ward— C.  M.  Paine,  W.  D.  Tarrant. 

Second  ward — Ferd.  Paringer,  George  Seybold, 
Charles  Fiebrants. 

Third  ward — John  Hannan,  James  Marlett,  George 
A.  Foster. 

Fourth  ward— John  J.  McGovern,  Charles  Dielmann, 
T.  F.  Hyde. 

Fifth  ward— T.  W.  Sheriffs,  A.  Salisbury,  John  Joys. 

S;xth  ward— C.  P.  Hart,  Charles  Van  Ewyk,  G.  W. 
Petermann. 

Seventh  ward- 
Eighth  ward— F.  C.  Lorenz,  Christian  Doerfler,  L.  J. 
Kreutzberg. 

Ninth  ward — Richard  Schmidt,  P.  J.  Bril,  A.  A. 
Wieber. 

Tenth  ward — H.  J.  Baumgartner,  A.  F.  Zentner.  Theo 
dore  Zillmer. 

Eleventh  ward — J.  C.  Vogenitz,  J.  L.  Norman,  E.  W. 
Choinski. 


THE  MILWAUKEE  MOVEMENT  123 

Twelfth  ward— William  Bahr,  William  T.  Duke,  Q.  D. 
Bosse. 

Thirteenth  ward — Charles  Menges,  A.  J.  Stoessel, 
John  J.  Kempf. 

Fourteenth  ward — J.  W.  S.  Tomkiewicz,  Chas.  Esau, 
J.  Rajski. 

Fifteenth  ward — D.  Sherman,  George  Thuring. 

Sixteenth  ward— David  Harlowe,  M.  D.  Kelly. 

Seventeenth  ward — Joseph  Vallier,  William  Steven 
son,  T.  P.  Dilyer. 

Eighteenth  ward— W.  E.  Van  Altena,  M.  N.  Lando. 

Nineteenth  ward— Otto  L.  Hahn,  H.  0.  Reinholdt, 
George  Reinholdt. 

Twentieth  ward — Charles  Elkert,  F.  Wenkel,  August 
Sonnemann. 

Twenty-first  ward — F.  C.  Rader,  A.  Markert,  John 
Roth. 

North  Greenfield — George  Brew,  Jacob  Conrad,  Jr., 
George  Stelloh. 

Whitefish  Ba\'— H.  K.  Curtis,  James  McGee. 

Wauwatosa— H.  E.  Bradley,  F.  T.  Souther. 

Granville — Washington  Boorse. 

Franklin— B.  Bader,  F.  Schmidt,  F.  Brinn. 

Lake — Henry  Strothenke,  L.  Stiles. 

Wauwatosa  City — Louis  Rogers,  Henry  Traever. 

Having  outgrown  its  quarters  the  club  accepted  an 
invitation  to  hold  its  future  meetings  in  the  club  room 
of  the  Plankinton  hotel,  and  here  the  next  meeting  was 
held  May  31. 

Regular  weekly  meetings  were  held  by  the  club  and 
the  work  of  organization  was  rapidly  extended.  A  com 
mittee  on  campaign  literature,  with  Francis  E.  McGov- 
ern  as  chairman,  was  appointed  and  another  on  finance, 
headed  by  John  J.  Kempf. 

Under  the  energetic  and  effective  lead  of  such  men  as 
Baumgartner,  Zillmer,  Kuolt,  Dr.  McGovern,  Kronshage 


124  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

and  President  Pullen,  a  remarkably  effective  ward  or 
ganization  was  rapidly  built  up  and  the  necessary  funds 
raised  with  celerity  as  needed.  The  rapid  growth  of 
the  club  soon  caused  apprehension  in  the  regular  repub 
lican  county  committee  which  sent  a  delegation  to  the 
Plankinton  headquarters  to  inquire  into  the  purposes 
of  the  new  organization  and  to  urge  moderation  in  the 
interests  of  party  harmony.  A.  E.  Kuolt,  for  one,  was 
a  member  of  both  the  regular  county  committee  and  the 
anti-machine  organization  and  was  particularly  sub 
jected  to  pressure  by  the  regulars.  Kuolt,  Kronshage 
and  Kempf  had  been  very  active  in  the  spring  campaign 
seeking  to  bring  about  the  nomination  of  Baumgartner 
for  mayor,  one  result  of  which  was  that  the  Evening 
Wisconsin  read  the  "three  K  V  out  of  the  party. 

While  not  formally  endorsing  the  gubernatorial  can 
didacy  of  LaFollette  until  some  time  after  the  candidacy 
was  announced,  the  free-masonry  of  the  club  was  de 
cidedly  pro-LaFollette.  In  fact,  had  not  LaFollette 
come  out  as  a  candidate  for  governor,  the  activities  of 
the  club  would  probably  soon  have  ceased.  "We  came 
to  a  point,"  said  F.  E.  McGovern,  "when  it  became 
necessary  to  go  either  forward  or  backward.  We  urged 
LaFollette  to  become  a  candidate  and  told  him  that  if 
he  did  not,  we  would  quit;  that  ours  was  no  debating 
society.  After  a  nearly  all-night  session  with  some  of 
us,  he  agreed  to  be  a  candidate  and  true  to  our  word 
we  then  went  enthusiastically  into  the  fight  and  gave  him 
splendid  support." 

In  fact  the  devotion  of  the  organization  to  the  La 
Follette  cause  was  almost  of  the  fanatical  kind.  So 
strict  was  the  unwritten  code  of  loyalty  to  the  cause  that 
if  a  member  went  over  to  the  opposition  through  money 
or  favors,  he  was  ostracised  both  socially  and  in  business 
matters. 

However,  the  club  thought  it  advisable  to  declare  that 


THE  MILWAUKEE   MOVEMENT  125 

its  purpose  was  the  advancement  of  certain  political 
principles  and  ideas,  rather  than  the  political  fortunes 
of  individuals.  In  a  speech  before  the  club,  June  22, 
President  Pullen  said  among  other  things: 

Since  the  charge  has  been  made  that  we  have  organized  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  the  political  advancement  of  certain  in 
dividuals,  I  here  absolutely  deny  such  to  be  the  case.  The  test 
of  membership  in  this  club  is  not  allegiance  to  the  political  for 
tunes  of  anyone.  Its  fight  will  be  for  principles,  not  for  men,  and 
though  it  will  support  for  nomination  such  men,  and  such  men 
only,  as  are  in  sincere  accord  with  its  principles,  it  will  not  act 
as  a  machine  for  any  party  candidate. 

The  club  is  born  of  the  necessity  of  meeting  the  organized 
power  of  the  machine  by  an  organization  equally  as  potent.  When 
the  plan  upon  which  it  was  devised  is  consummated,  as  it  soon 
will  be,  it  will  be  representative  of  the  auxiliary  clubs  located  in 
each  ward  and  town  of  this  county  and,  we  trust,  of  the  state. 
Each  auxiliary  club  will  elect  three  representatives  who  will  take 
the  places  of  the  gentlemen  now  representing  the  various  wards 
and  towns  and  who  will  carry  forward  the  movement  thus  begun. 

One  of  the  notaHe  things  done  "by  the  club  was  the 
issuing  of  the  pamphlet  entitled  ''Governor  Scofield's 
Record  as  Shown  by  His  Official  Acts.','  This  was  read 
by  Chairman  F.  E.  McGovern  of  the  committee  on  liter 
ature  at  the  meeting  July  18,  and  on  motion  of  Theodore 
Kronshage  was  endorsed  by  the  club  and  ordered 
printed,  President  Pullen  assuming  responsibil'ty  for  it 
by  affixing  his  name  to  it.  This  was  a  twenty-four  page 
pamphlet,  perhaps  the  most  scathing  review  of  a  public 
official  that  had  so  far  seen  the  light  in  Wisconsin,  and 
was  perhaps  the  most  effective  single  influence  in  the 
campaign  in  creating  a  prejudice  against  Governor  Sco- 
field.  This  was  a  composite  production  in  which  poli 
ticians  professed  to  see  the  hand  of  Gilbert  E.  Roe  of 
Madison,  A.  R.  Hall,  and  others. 

Besides  the  charges  of  general  subserviency  to  the  spe 
cial  interests,  the  pamphlet  contained  one  feature  that 
provoked  general  interest.  This  was  a  repetition  of  A. 
R.  Hall's  attack  upon  the  governor  for  having  shipped 


126  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

his  cow  upon  an  express  frank  from  Oconto  to  Madison. 
Her  story  thus  blazoned  far  and  wide,  the  Scofield  cow 
attained  a  temporary  immortality  little  anticipated  by 
her  owner  when  he  decided  to  transfer  her  from  the 
calm  retreat  of  Oconto  to  the  aristocratic  atmosphere  of 
the  capital. 

July  27,  1898,  at  a  meeting  at  the  Plankinton  at 
tended  by  about  fifty  members,  the  club  formally  en 
dorsed  the  candidacy  of  LaFollette  by  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolution: 

Whereas,  the  Kepublican  Club  of  Milwaukee  County  was  or 
ganized  to  further  certain  principles  by  it  adopted,  and  to  use 
all  honorable  means  to  secure  the  nomination  of  candidates  for 
office  known  to  be  loyal  and  steadfast  to  these  principles,  there 
fore,  be  it  resolved,  that  this  club  endorse  the  candidacy  of  the 
Hon.  Robert  M.  LaFollette  for  governor  as  best  representing  the 
objects  and  principles  of  this  club. 

As  indicating  the  active  part  the  club  had  already 
taken  in  the  campaign,  Theodore  Kronshage,  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  organization,  reported  that  clubs 
had  been  formed  in  all  wards  but  nine,  while  F.  E.  Mc- 
Govern,  chairman  of  the  committee  on  literature,  re 
ported  the  distribution  to  date  of  75,000  copies  of  the 
pamphlet  reviewing  Governor  Scofield 's  record  and 
13,000  copies  of  President  Pullen's  speech. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  club  had  quickly  devel 
oped  into  a  factor  of  the  largest  importance.  The  ef 
fectiveness  of  its  organization  was  seen  in  the  fact  that 
in  the  primaries  held  August  12,  the  club  won  for  La 
Follette  half  of  the  delegation,  144  members,  to  the  re 
publican  state  convention. 

The  last  meeting  of  the  club  that  year  was  held  August 
31,  when  it  was  voted  to  invite  Mr.  LaFollette  to  come 
to  Milwaukee  and  make  a  speech  under  its  auspices. 

Interesting  as  showing  some  of  the  natural  elements 
out  of  which  the  LaFollette  movement  grew,  is  the  case 
of  President  Pullen  of  the  Milwaukee  club,  as  Pullen's 


THE  MILWAUKEE  MOVEMENT  127 

first  inspiration  was  the  impulse  to  aid  an  old  friend. 
Pullen  had  known  LaFollette  from  boyhood.  ELs  father 
had  come  to  the  little  village  of  Argyle,  Lafayette  county, 
Wisconsin,  from  Maine,  about  1850,  and  started  a  store. 
Next  door  was  another  store  kept  by  an  old  man  named 
John  Z.  Saxton.  One  day  in  the  '60s  Saxton  brought 
home  a  bride  with  several  children.  She  was  Mrs.  Mary 
LaFollette  of  Primrose  before  her  marriage  to  Saxton. 
Not  long  afterward  while  Pullen  was  playing  with  Perry 
C.  Wilder,  later  to  be  prominent  in  poLtical  life,  and  a 
number  of  other  boys,  a  bright  little  chap  came  up  and 
said,  "My  name  is  Bob  LaFollette;  what  is  yours?"  It 
was  the  beginning  of  a  lifelong  friendship  of  this  trio. 
Said  Mr.  Pullen  on  this  point: 

Bob  was  no  different  from  the  rest,  no  brighter  in  school,  no 
better;  perhaps  more  mischievous.  We  grew  up  together,  played 
together,  tried  to  learn  to  smoke  and  chew,  became  awfully  sick, 
and  did  other  things  usual  with  boys. 

I  remember  that  during  the  latter  days  of  the  civil  war  we  formed 
a  boys'  fife  and  drum  corps  with  little  Bobbie  as  a  fifer.  We 
had  a  picture  taken  which  I  have  since  lost.  One  morning  on  the 
way  to  Sunday  school  we  went  down  to  the  Pecatonica  river. 
There  was  a  great  flood  with  the  river  nearly  a  mile  wide.  Prying 
a  great  cake  of  ice  loose,  Bob,  Perry  Wilder,  and  I,  with  some 
other  boys,  got  on  it  and  were  carried  several  miles  down  the 
river,  at  very  great  peril,  before  we  could  land.  We  missed  Sun 
day  school,  but  my  folks  didn't  know  of  it  for  years. 

Bob  soon  went  back  to  the  Primrose  farm  home.  Then  father 
moved  to  Evansville,  Green  county,  followed  by  the  Wilder,  An 
drews  and  other  families  and  Bob  came  back  with  us  for  a  term 
in  the  seminary  at  Evansville. 

We  had  no  hand  in  the  Haugen  campaign  in  1894  as  an  or 
ganization  and  had  not  yet  begun  to  formulate  any  definite  ideas 
on  the  contest  that  was  shaping  in  Wisconsin.  I  remember  I  at 
tended  the  republican  state  convention  at  the  Academy  of  Music 
in  1896  and  saw  them  sit  down  on  A.  R.  Hall  and  his  anti-pass 
resolution.  I  was  using  a  good  many  passes  myself  then  and 
rather  disliked  the  possibility  of  losing  them.  So  I  felt  more 
comfortable  when  they  refused  to  put  Hall's  resolution  in  the 
platform,  but  I  didn  't  like  the  rough  way  in  which  he  was  treated, 
and  it  set  me  to  thinking,  and  I  soon  became  an  anti-pass  advo- 


128  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

cate  myself.  I  felt,  too,  that  the  brusque  way  Keyes  and  the 
other  fellows  had  of  running  things  was  not  quite  right,  although 
my  father,  while  a  member  of  the  legislature,  had  voted  for  Keyes 
for  United  States  senator. 

We  were  beaten  in  1896,  though  by  all  figuring  before  and 
since  I  believe  we  were  entitled  to  the  nomination. 

It  was  in  1898,  when  LaFollette  became  a  candidate  for  the 
second  time,  that  we  first  organized  in  Milwaukee.  Our  families 
had  all  met  at  Evansville  that  spring  for  a  reunion  and  Bob  had 
suggested  that  I  see  what  I  could  do  for  him  in  Milwaukee.  La 
Follette  had  always  counseled  with  me  in  matters  political;  when 
he  ran  for  district  attorney  and  again  when  running  for  congress, 
and  when  he  issued  his  reply  to  Sawyer  in  1891.  I  remember  we 
told  him  when  he  aspired  to  congress  in  1884  that  he  could  hardly 
hope  to  beat  the  Keyes  crowd,  but  since  he  had  nothing  to  lose 
and  everything  to  gain,  to  go  in.  Also  when  he  came  to  Milwaukee 
with  his  expose  of  Sawyer,  we  said  we  were  fearful  of  the  con 
sequences  and  that  he  couldn't  hope  to  make  the  public  take  his 
word  against  that  of  so  big  a  man  as  Sawyer,  but  he  went  ahead 
anyway. 

Well,  on  returning  from  Evansville  I  talked  with  Theodore 
Kronshage,  Francis  E.  McGovern  and  W.  D.  Tarrant,  then  all 
young  lawyers  recently  out  of  the  university,  Dr.  J.  J.  McGovern, 
and  others  and  we  decided  to  call  a  meeting. 

Our  first  meetings  were  held  at  the  law  offices  of  Kronshage, 
Tarrant,  McGovern  &  Dielmann,  in  the  Metropolitan  block,  Third 
and  State  streets,  but  the  room  proving  rather  small  we  soon  met 
in  the  club  room  of  the  Plankinton  hotel,  which  had  been  offered 
us.  We  adopted  the  name  ' '  The  Republican  Club  of  Milwaukee 
County. ' '  I  was  elected  president,  Francis  E.  McGovern,  vice 
president,  and  Albert  E.  Kuolt,  then  an  active  young  bank  clerk, 
secretary.  Kronshage  also  was  backed  for  president,  but  because 
of  my  lifelong  friendship  with  LaFollette,  I  was  regarded  as  the 
logical  man  for  the  place.  I  remember  I  wrote  out  and  made  an 
insurgent  speech,  the  first  of  its  kind  of  which  I  know.  We  met 
once  a  week  and  the  club  grew  very  fast.  We  appointed  com 
mittees  in  nearly  every  precinct  and  began  organizing  the  field 
for  LaFollette.  We  didn't  talk  LaFolletteism  at  first,  but  rather 
anti-machine  republicanism,  having  gotten  our  ideas  from  LaFol 
lette.  In  fact  we  didn't  dare  to  admit  that  the  organization  was 
for  the  support  of  LaFollette.  I  was  scared  myself,  because  I 
was  a  banker  and  was  told  that  I  would  lose  my  head  and  my 
business  if  I  persisted  in  my  activity.  "How?"  I  asked.  "Well, 
the  railroads  will  fix  you, ' '  was  the  reply.  In  fact,  we  received 


THE  MILWAUKEE   MOVEMENT  129 

notices  of  that  kind  all  along.  E.  I.  Kidd,  later  bank  examiner, 
received  similar  warnings  for  his  activity.  One  of  the  means 
taken  to  impress  us  was  to  make  the  railroad  men  draw  their 
funds  out  of  certain  banks.  But  the  real  purpose  of  our  organi 
zation  couldn't  long  be  kept  down  and  as  we  got  stronger  we 
became  bolder. 

Soon,  we  had  a  delegation  from  the  regular  republican  county 
committee  of  Milwaukee  call  on  us.  One  of  the  delegation,  Alec 
Hill,  wanted  to  know  what  we  were  ' l  doing  with  all  that  organ 
izing;  "  it  was  causing  much  excitement  in  their  camp.  We  told 
him  that  we  were  republicans,  but  believed  in  certain  progressive 
principles,  and  succeeded  in  sending  the  delegation  back  somewhat 
reassured,  but  they  warned  us  against  getting  off  the  reservation. 

Then  we  got  out  the  anti-Sconeld  pamphlet.  I  took  the  re 
sponsibility  for  this  publication  and  signed  my  name  to  it  for  the 
club.  This  was  printed  in  English,  German,  Polish  and  other 
languages  and  thousands  of  copies  were  sent  out.  It  caused  quite 
a  sensation  and  brought  much  criticism  upon  me.  My  old  friend, 
Joe  Treat,  and  Charles  Pfister  and  others  of  the  party  managers, 
called  on  me  and  asked  me  to  retract  and  said  we  were  making 
trouble  for  the  party,  but  I  replied  that  the  democrats  would 
make  such  charges  anyway,  and  we  might  as  well  face  them  and 
correct  them  ourselves. 

Then  came  the  two-column  letter  in  the  Sentinel  from  Senator 
Spooner,  urging  the  renomination  of  Governor  Scofield.  The  same 
day  Gil  Eoe  telephoned  me  from  Madison,  "  something  must  be 
done"  to  reply  to  it.  I  told  him  to  come  right  in  to  Milwaukee 
and  we  would  reply.  We  stayed  up  all  night  in  Kronshage  's  office 
drawing  up  a  reply  which  I  signed  and  took  to  the  Sentinel  office. 
While  we  were  talking  with  Editor  Myrick  about  it,  an  old  man 
sitting  near  asked,  ' '  What 's  that  you  're  talking  about? ' '  I  didn  't 
know  him  but  let  him  see  the  paper.  He  was  Captain  Bean,  one 
of  the  directors  of  the  Sentinel  company,  and  after  reading  it  he 
told  Myrick  to  print  it. 

Such  were  some  of  the  incidents  of  our  early  activities. 

Dr.  John  J.  McGovern  said  of  his  part  in  the  move 
ment: 

As  I  remember  it,  I  called  the  first  meeting  in  Milwaukee 
which  was  the  beginning  of  the  new  republican  movement  there. 
I  came  to  Milwaukee  in  1893.  Soon  afterward  I  attended  a  re 
publican  preliminary  held  in  Campbell's  hall  in  the  third  ward, 
to  elect  delegates  to  various  conventions.  Of  the  twenty  or  thirty 


130  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

men  proposed  for  delegates  I  didn't  know  more  than  three  or 
four.  That  fact,  together  with  the  manner  in  which  the  meeting 
was  run  by  certain  men,  set  me  thinking  and  I  decided  that  there 
after  I  would  not  vote  for  men  I  did  not  know  as  was  the  practice 
in  caucuses.  I  would  know  the  men. 

There  were  others  who  didn't  like  the  way  things  were  being 
run  politically  and  one  of  these  was  Henry  J.  Baumgartner,  who 
was  such  a  fearless  fighter  in  the  city  council  and  once  the  repub 
lican  candidate  for  mayor.  Baumgartner  should  be  given  the 
highest  credit  in  the  inspiration  and  launching  of  the  reform 
movement  in  Milwaukee.  He  was  a  power  among  the  working- 
men  on  the  north  side,  a  fearless  fighter  of  graft  in  the  council, 
always  true  blue  and  absolutely  incorruptible.  Many  of  us  have 
felt  that  he  was  counted  out  of  the  mayoralty.  If  he  was  honestly 
defeated  it  was  not  that  the  integrity  and  courage  of  the  man 
were  questioned,  but  because  many  who  would  liked  to  have  sup 
ported  him  felt  that  he  was  too  radical  and  outspoken  and  might 
carry  things  too  far  if  given  power.  He  was  ahead  of  his  time; 
the  civic  conscience  and  courage  of  Milwaukee  had  not  yet  been 
sufficiently  aroused.  More  education  was  needed. 

Through  the  inspiration  of  Sam  Harper  we  had  been  active 
for  LaFollette  in  1896,  in  a  rather  unorganized  way.  Harper 
was  then  the  president  of  the  League  of  Republican  Clubs  of  the 
state  and  when  the  party  machine  leaders  attempted  to  throw  him 
out  and  elect  M.  G.  Jeffris  as  president,  we  helped  retain  him  in 
his  place.  To  show  how  we  had  already  become  identified  with 
the  new  movement  I  may  say  that  when  Harper  died  in  March, 
1898,  Baumgartner,  W.  G.  Rauschenberger,  Pullen,  Zentner,  Zill- 
mer,  John  Corrigan  and  myself,  besides  others,  went  to  Madison 
to  his  funeral. 

In  the  spring  before  LaFollette 's  second  campaign  for  the 
governorship  a  number  of  us  who  were  opposed  to  the  way  things 
were  being  run  first  met  in  the  law  office  of  Kronshage,  Tarrant, 
McGovern  &  Dielmann,  at  my  suggestion.  While  not  entirely  cer 
tain  on  that  point,  I  believe  that  among  those  present  were  Henry 
J.  Baumgartner,  John  J.  Kempf,  Theodore  Zillmer,  Theodore 
Kronshage,  W.  D.  Tarrant,  A.  E.  Kuolt,  August  Zentner,  myself 
and  my  younger  brother,  Francis  E.  McGovern.  I  think  Tarrant 
presided  at  the  meeting. 

When  LaFollette  came  out  as  a  candidate,  our  efforts  crystal 
lized  into  something  concrete  under  his  leadership.  We  became  a 
part  of  the  LaFollette  movement.  Baumgartner,  Zillmer  and 


THE  MILWAUKEE   MOVEMENT  131 

Zentner  went  to  Madison  and  got  a  set  of  principles  from  La- 
Follette  which  became  the  creed  and  propaganda  of  our  organiza 
tion. 

It  may  here  be  said  that  in  1900  the  friends  of  Baum- 
gartner  succeeded  in  having  him  nominated,  against 
Wade  H.  Richardson,  but  Baumgartner  also  was  to  be 
defeated  by  Rose,  who  was  now  supported  by  the  ma 
chine  men  of  both  parties.  Baumgartner  is  believed  to 
have  lest  many  votes  by  taking  the  stump  and  urging 
his  then  radical  program  in  his  fiery  manner.  His 
friends  begged  him  not  to  go  out,  and  as  one  of  them 
afterward  said,  "prayed  that  he  might  break  a  leg  or 
otherwise  be  incapacitated,"  but  to  no  avail.  His  ora 
tory  was  of  the  fervent  kind.  He  would  leap  into  the 
air  while  speaking  and  if  there  were  no  table  to  pound 
he  would  get  down  and  pound  the  floor. 

In  the  Baumgartner  campaign  the  club  placed  La- 
Follette's  picture  over  the  ward  tickets,  thus  tieing  up 
the  Baumgartner  with  the  LaFollette  cause. 

Of  the  club  it  remains  to  be  said  that  it  was  reorgan 
ized  June  11,  1900,  and  was  more  or  less  active  in  that 
campaign  and  in  that  of  1902. 

It  is  possible  that  an  even  greater  service  was  rendered 
the  reform  cause  by  this  club  in  1904  than  in  the  earlier 
campaigns.  It  was  very  close  to  the  time  of  the  repub 
lican  caucuses  and  the  club,  as  an  organization,  had  as 
yet  done  nothing  when  it  occurred  to  Francis  E.  Mc- 
Govern,  then  seeking  the  nomination  for  district  attor 
ney,  that  something  should  be  done  to  secure  delegates 
for  LaFollette.  A  meeting  was  called  at  once  and  the 
club  reorganized  with  E.  L.  Tracy  as  president  and 
Henry  F.  Cochems  as  secretary.  A  sharp  campaign  was 
prosecuted  and  because  of  previous  organization,  an  ef 
fective  one,  as  LaFollette  won  a  third  or  more  of  the 
delegates  from  the  county.  Without  this  support  from 
Milwaukee  and  its  moral  effect,  his  political  fortunes  in 


132  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

the  state  convention  might  have  met  a  much  more  crucial 
test  than  they  experienced. 

In  the  matter  of  sending  progressive  representatives 
from  its  city  to  the  legislature,  however,  the  club  ap 
pears  to  have  been  less  interested  or  at  least  less  success 
ful.  The  generality  of  legislators,  from  Milwaukee  dur 
ing  the  so-called  LaFollette  regime  was  reactionary  and 
hostile  to  the  reform  movement.  Indeed  it  came  to  be 
U  accepted  as  a  truism  in  the  LaFollette  camp  that  "noth- 
J  ing  good  can  come  out  of  Milwaukee." 

Yet  bearing  in  mind  the  official  atmosphere  which  per 
vaded  the  Milwaukee  city  hall  during  this  period;  re 
membering  the  unmoral  makeup  of  the  official  mind  as 
revealed  later  in  the  McGovern  graft  prosecutions,  and 
the  further  fact  that  the  first  McGovern  grand  jury  re 
ported  in  effect  that  it  was  "too  rotten"  to  act,  and 
asked  to  be  discharged,  there  will  be  less  wonder  at  the 
legislative  product  of  the  time. 


Scene   on   LaFollette   Farm,   Madison,  Wis. 


CHAPTER  X 
Convention  of  1898. 

LAFOLLETTE    A    THREE-WEEK    CANDIDATE  —  KUMORS    OF     ''DARK- 

HORSE"    TO   BE    ENTERED  —  STIRRING   CONVENTION    SCENES  —  SCO- 
FIELD  RENOMINATED  —  PROGRESSIVE  ADVANCE  IN  PLATFORM. 


OVERNOR  SCOFIELD  owed  his  renomination  that 
year,  first,  to  the  fact  that  the  machine  managers  decided 
not  to  disturb  him  and,  next,  to  the  second  term  prece 
dent  and  political  habit  of  thought  of  the  people,  the 
conservative  disposition  to  give  a  man  a  second  trial 
even  if  found  wanting  in  the  first.  Remembering  the 
ease  with  which  they  had  eliminated  Upham  two  years 
before,  there  was  a  disposition  among  some  of  the  or 
ganization  leaders  to  also  sidetrack  Scofield  and  again 
present  a  new  man  with  no  record  to  handicap  him  such 
as  Upham  had  acquired  and  which  Scofield  had  dupli 
cated.  Congressman  Babcock  favored  H.  C.  Adams  of 
Madison,  later  congressman,  on  the  ground  that  Adams 
would  also  have  strength  with  the  insurgent  element. 
However,  the  more  astute  managers  felt  that  it  was  too 
critical  a  time  to  court  any  possible  demoralization  in 
their  ranks  on  which  LaFollette  might  seize  to  advan 
tage.  Besides  Scofield  himself  might  make  trouble  if  a 
change  were  attempted.  A  politician  and  former  legis 
lator  himself  and  of  different  mettle  from  Upham,  he 
might  not  be  so  easily  shooed  off  after  one  term.  It  was 
decided  it  would  be  unwise  to  attempt  swapping  horses 
while  crossing  the  political  stream  ahead  and  Scofield 
was  endorsed  for  renomination. 

But  the  machine  was  yielding.  It  was  willing  to  adopt 
anti-corporation  platforms  if  it  could  name  its  men  to 
enforce  the  laws.  This  vaudeville  performance  had  been 
given  trial  in  Milwaukee  that  spring  when  a  corporation 


134  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

candidate  for  mayor  was  nominated  on  an  anti-corpora 
tion  platform  and  had  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  can 
didate  by  8,700  votes,  although  Milwaukee  was  normally 
republican.  It  was  nevertheless  now  proposed  to  re- 
nominate  Scofield  on  a  LaFollette  platform. 

LaFollette  did  not  formally  announce  his  candidacy 
until  July  15.  This  left  practically  but  three  weeks  for 
the  securing  of  delegates  before  the  state  convention, 
but  so  fast  and  furious  a  campaign  did  LaFollette  wage 
that  the  administration  organs  expressed  the  utmost  con 
cern.  Although  none  of  them  were  delegates,  the  big 
stalwart  field  marshals,  Sawyer,  Payne,  Pfister,  Keyes 
and  others,  wrere  again  early  on  hand  at  the  convention 
to  manipulate  and  hold  their  forces  in  line.  Persistently 
the  possibility  was  suggested  of  a  third  candidate  being 
brought  out  to  defeat  both  the  warring  principals.  Up 
to  the  very  day  of  the  convention  this  mighty  and  sinister 
figure,  whose  identity  none  could  guess,  was  conjured 
up,  but  he  failed  to  materialize.  Hope  of  trading  possi 
bilities  in  case  of  emergency  was  doubtless  the  main  con 
sideration  of  the  stalwarts  in  grooming  this  man  of 
straw.  However,  when  the  convention  opened  at  Mil 
waukee  August  17  there  was  no  little  apprehension  in 
the  minds  of  the  Scofield  supporters.  While  the  regu 
lars  won  the  day  the  convention  was  to  prove  little  bet 
ter  than  a  Pyrrhic  victory.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
fiercely  contested  nominations  in  the  history  of  the  state 
and  was  replete  with  striking  incidents  as  yet  unre 
corded. 

Almost  at  the  opening  they  were  forced  to  yield 
ground  and  make  a  practical  concession  of  error.  As 
if  to  absolve  the  candidates  from  any  platform  promises 
the  supporters  of  Scofield  sought  to  rush  through  the 
nominations  of  candidates  before  adopting  a  platform. 
The  LaFollette  men  jumped  to  their  feet  in  objection. 

" Before  I  vote  for  a  candidate  for  governor,"  said 


CONVENTION  OF  1898  135 

Gen.  George  E.  Bryant,  "I  want  to  know  what  platform 
he  stands  on.  Two  years  ago  we  had  an  anti-pass  reso 
lution  adopted  by  the  convention  and  the  governor  who 
had  been  nominated  before  that  resolution  was  passed 
refused  to  recognize  it." 

Finally  the  Scofield  forces  yielded  and  an  adjourn 
ment  was  taken  until  evening. 

Largely  through  the  efforts  of  Gilbert  E.  Roe,  LaFol- 
lette's  former  law  partner,  who  fought  persistently  in 
the  committee  on  resolutions  for  a  progressive  platform, 
an  advanced  set  of  principles,  largely  formulated  by  La- 
Follette,  Hall  and  Davidson,  was  reported  to  the  con 
vention.  Ever  since  1886  the  party  platforms  had  been 
silent  on  state  issues,  contenting  themselves  with  en 
dorsements  of  national  platforms  and  the  waving  of  the 
bloody  shirt.  The  platform  of  1898  was  therefore  nota 
ble.  Among  other  things  it  pronounced  against  the  pass 
evil>  the  lobby,  the  "doodle  book"  and  the  Bennett  law 
bogie,  and  favored  more  equal  taxation  (railroad  taxa 
tion).  Also  there  was  a  squinting  toward  primary  elec 
tion  endorsement  in  the  following  equivocal  pronounce 
ment — the  nearest  approach  to  a  primary  plank  that  Mr. 
Roe  could  secure : 

Recognizing  that  the  present  caucus  and  convention  law  is 
not  free  from  defects,  we  favor  such  legislation  as  will  secure  to 
every  citizen  the  freest  expression  of  his  choice  in  the  selection 
of  candidates. 

A  minority  platform  report  which  omitted  any  spe 
cific  endorsement  of  Governor  Scofield  was  presented 
by  Mr.  Roe  and  the  first  test  vote  of  the  convention 
came  on  the  question  of  its  adoption.  The  majority  re 
port  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  643^  to  416V2.  The 
nominations  were  not  made  until  after  midnight  follow 
ing  a  stormy  evening  session  in  which  charges  of  money 
and  trading  flew  back  and  forth.  The  LaFollette  forces 
fought  with  a  courage  and  enthusiasm  that  called  forth 
wonder  on  all  sides.  The  Madison  man  was  placed  in 


136  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

nomination  in  a  spirited  oratorical  effort  by  A.  H.  Long, 
warmly  seconded  by  Henry  F.  Cochems  and  others,  while 
A.  R.  Hall  made  a  fiery  attack  on  Scofield,  declaring  the 
governor  had  pledged  himself  to  anti-pass  legislation, 
but  had  secretly  worked  against  it.  He  also  scored  Sco 
field  for  congratulating  the  people  on  their  pleasant  re 
lations  with  the  railroads,  and  pointed  to  specific  in 
stances  of  discrimination  and  tax-dodging  on  the  part 
of  the  roads. 

Ira  B.  Bradford  presented  the  name  of  Scofield,  the 
final  vote  standing :  Scofield,  620%  ;  LaFollette,  436%  ; 
C.  E.  Estabrook,  6 ;  Emil  Baensch,  2. 

Scofield  was  thus  renominated,  but  on  practically  a 
LaFollette  platform.  As  a  sign  of  further  concessions 
the  Scofield  forces  also  gave  the  nomination  for  state 
treasurer  to  a  LaFollette  adherent,  Assemblyman  James 
0.  Davidson,  later  governor,  but,  it  is  said,  that  in  order 
that  he  might  not  forget  to  whom  he  owed  the  favlr  it 
was  arranged  to  give  him  the  nomination  by  a  margin 
of  but  one-half  vote. 

If  this  is  true  it  illustrates  how  trifles  determine  des 
tiny.  This  nomination  so  narrowly  won  no  doubt  led  to 
Davidson's  eventual  elevation  to  the  governor's  chair. 
Davidson,  by  the  way,  had  previously  won  a  somewhat 
similarly  narrow  victory  when  he  was  seated  in  an  as 
sembly  contest  in  a  democratic  house  by  a  margin  of  one 
vote.  One  of  his  friends  remarked  that  ' '  as  a  close  shave 
for  fame  Madame  Roland's  snatching  of  immortality  at 
the  last  moment  on  the  gallows  by  her  exclamation,  'Ah, 
Liberty !  how  many  crimes  are  committed  in  thy  name ! ' 
thus  had  a  sort  of  parallel  in  this  instance.  So  nigh  is 
grandeur  to  our  dust." 

LaFollette  had  failed  of  the  nomination  again,  but 
had  made  such  important  gains  that  it  was  a  moral  vic 
tory.  So  strong  had  become  the  sentiment  in  favor  of 
primary  elections  and  equal  taxation  that  planks  en- 


CONVENTION  OF  1898  137 

dorsing  these  principles  were  incorporated  in  the  demo 
cratic  platform  that  year.  The  republican  ticket  was, 
however,  elected. 

LaFollette  took  no  part  in  the  campaign  following  the 
convention.  The  strain  of  the  pre-convention  fight 
proved  too  great  and  while  trying  a  law  case  in  Baraboo 
in  October  he  was  taken  very  ill.  He  had  agreed  on 
many  dates  and  had  planned  to  open  in  his  native  town 
of  Primrose.  So  ill  was  he  that  for  a  time  much  anxiety 
was  felt  by  his  family  and  friends.  On  November  26, 
after  he  had  been  in  bed  five  weeks,  a  newspaper  dis 
patch  stated  that  he  was  unable  to  take  any  nourish 
ment,  being  unable  to  keep  even  malted  milk  on  his 
stomach.  For  a  time  there  were  fears  for  his  life,  but 
eventually  he  became  himself  again.  Nevertheless  he 
did  not  escape  the  charge  that  he  was  simply  sulking  in 
his  tent. 

The  democrats  adopted  a  strongly  progressive  plat 
form  with  this  unequivocal  declaration  on  primary  elec 
tions-  : 

We  are  in  favor  of  a  primary  election  law  to  replace  the 
present  method  of  nominating  candidates  for  office  and  that  all 
nominations  shall  be  made  by  a  direct  vote  of  the  people. 

Judge  H.  W.  Sawyer  of  Hartford  was  nominated  for 
governor.  Nevertheless  Scofield  was  re-elected.  LaFol 
lette  having  been  twice  defeated  for  the  nomination  for 
governor,  it  was  assumed  by  the  opposition,  and  by  many 
of  his  friends  as  well,  that  he  would  not  again  be  a  can 
didate  in  1900.  Many  men  quit  at  one  defeat;  many 
more  at  two. 

More  responsive  to  the  public  demand  too  and  in  hope 
of  laying  somewhat  the  dangerous  LaFollette  agitation, 
the  legislature  of  that  year,  which  was  also  regular,  re 
deemed  in  part  the  platform  pledges  made.  Although 
the  railroads  announced  immediately  after  the  election 
that  they  had  voted  to  continue  the  giving  of  passes 


138  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

to  legislators  as  usual,  in  spite  of  anti-pass  planks  in 
the  platform  of  both  the  republican  and  democratic  par 
ties,  the  legislature  of  1899  finally  passed  an  anti-pass 
law  when  the  session  was  about  over,  and  after  many 
members  had  used  passes  industriously  all  winter. 
Thus  after  eight  long  years  of  fighting  A.  R.  Hall  was 
to  see  one  of  his  cherished  reforms  established.  Also 
the  legislature  enacted  the  Whitehead  bills  for  the  taxa 
tion  of  sleeping  car,  express,  freight  line  and  equipment 
companies  similar  to  the  Davidson  bills  vetoed  in  1897 
and  made  permanent  the  tax  commission  created  in 
1897.  But  it  killed  the  primary  election  bill  introduced 
by  Gen.  George  E.  Bryant,  then  the  Madison  member 
of  the  assembly,  and  also  the  bills  by  A.  R.  Hall  for  the 
taxation  and  regulation  of  railroads  and  the  creation 
of  a  railroad  commission,  which  bills  Hall  had  likewise 
pressed  in  the  legislature  of  1895,  only  to  see  them  go 
down  in  defeat. 

Thus  the  issues  of  primary  elections  and  railway  taxa 
tion  and  regulation  remained  unsettled  and  gave  prom 
ise  of  looming  big  on  the  horizon  of  the  next  campaign. 


CHAPTER  XI 

LaFollette's  First  Nomination  and  Election. 

MANY  CANDIDATES  IN  FIELD — IMPORTANT  DUAL  VICTORY  OF  LA- 
FOLLETTE  FORESHADOWS  His  NOMINATION — OPPOSING  CANDIDATES 
RAPIDLY  WITHDRAW — SPOONER  ANNOUNCES  DETERMINATION  TO 
QUIT  SENATE — UNANIMOUS  NOMINATION  OF  LAFOLLETTE — EE- 
MARKABLE  SPEAKING  TOUR  AND  GREAT  ENTHUSIASM  FOR  CANDI 
DATE. 

A  FREE  field  presenting  itself  in  1900,  five  repub 
lican  candidates  were  early  in  the  race  for  the  nomina 
tion  for  governor.  They  were  Senator  John  M.  White- 
head  of  Janesville,  Senator  A.  M.  Jones  of  Waukesha, 
Senator  De  Wayne  Stebbins  of  Algoma,  General  Earl  M. 
Rogers  of  Viroqua  and  Ira  B.  Bradford  of  Augusta. 

No  one  of  these  five,  however,  was  a  strong  candidate 
and  no  one  represented  to  a  satisfactory  degree  the  new 
movement  in  the  party.  All  made  their  bids  for  sup 
port  on  a  plea  for  ' '  harmony. ' ' 

After  his  two  defeats  for  the  nomination  it  was  as 
sumed  by  many  that  LaFollette  would  not  again  be  a 
candidate  in  1900,  and  for  some  weeks  after  the  others 
were  in  the  field  he  was  scarcely  mentioned  in  the  press 
as  a  possibility.  Gradually,  however,  a  demand  that  he 
be  a  candidate  sprang  up  in  different  parts  of  the  state. 
Newspapers  pointed  out  that  his'fight  with  Scofield  two 
years  before  had  resulted  in  much  good  legislation.  It 
was  better  than  a  namby-pamby  policy  of  "harmony" 
they  declared,  and  LaFollette  should  come  forth  as  a 
candidate  again.  On  the  other  hand  many  papers 
frowned  on  such  suggestion.  The  Wausau  Record,  for 
instance,  said  there  was  l '  no  room  in  the  state  for  a  per 
sonal  party." 

At  last  in  response  to  the  call  going  up  to  him  from 


140  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

all  parts  of  the  state  he  decided  to  enter  the  field  and 
announced  his  candidacy  in  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel  May 
16.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  on  the  day  when  he 
went  to  Milwaukee  with  this  announcement  there  was 
met  before  the  tax  commission  at  Madison  a  great  array 
of  attorneys  of  all  the  railroads  in  Wisconsin,  who  ar 
gued  that  so  far  from  paying  less  than  their  share  of 
taxes  the  railroads  were  paying  more  than  other  prop 
erty  and  in  Wisconsin  proportionately  more  than  in 
other  states. 

While  LaFollette's  announcement  set  forth  the  need 
of  continued  progress  in  legislation  it  did  so  in  very  gen 
eral  terms  and  the  announcement  was  quite  conciliatory 
as  compared  to  his  call  to  arms  in  1898.  He  referred 
to  the  better  feeling  within  the  party  and  said  he  would 
do  all  he  could  consistent  with  principle  to  promote  and 
maintain  this  feeling. 

Mr.  LaFollette's  entrance  in  the  field  immediately  set 
the  press  of  the  state  agog  with  discussion.  Yet,  strange 
to  say,  the  majority  of  the  newspapers  at  first  doubted 
his  ability  to  secure  the  nomination.  Even  Judge  Keyes 
while  on  a  visit  to  LaCrosse  in  June  doubted  LaFollette's 
ability  to  carry  his  home  county.  Yet  the  very  general 
discussion  which  he  precipitated  soon  showed  that  he 
could  not  be  considered  merely  a  local  candidate  like 
the  others.  Activity  in  his  behalf  began  manifesting 
itself  in  all  parts  of  the  state.  Traveling  men  reported 
that  small  country  metchants  were  everywhere  ' '  talking 
LaFollette." 

Soon  after  his  announcement  the  opposition  raised  the 
question  as  to  whether  or  not  LaFollette  was  hostile  to 
Senator  John  C.  Spooner,  and  if  he  would  use  the  gov 
ernorship,  in  case  of  his  election,  as  a  stepping  stone  or 
lever  to  displace  Spooner.  It  would  be  natural  to  ex 
pect  that  LaFollette  would  not  be  kindly  disposed  to 
ward  Spooner  in  view  of  the  latter 's  attack  on  the  candi- 


LAFOLLETTE'S   FIRST   NOMINATION    AND   ELECTION       141 

dacy  of  LaFollette  in  1898.  So  general  became  a  rumor 
to  this  effect  in  the  anti-LaFollette  press  that  to  settle 
it  LaFollette  gave  out  an  interview  May  30  that  he  would 
do  nothing  to  prevent  the  re-election  of  Spooner,  that 
he  would  be  neutral  in  the  matter  of  the  senatorship  and 
his  sole  purpose  would  be  to  so  conduct  the  affairs  of  the 
state  as  to  entitle  him  to  re-election  as  governor.  He 
even  gave  credit  to  Governor  Scofield  and  the  legislature 
for  what  had  been  accomplished  during  the  legislative 
session  just  closed.  In  an  interview  in  the  Milwaukee 
Sentinel,  May  31,  LaFollette  said:  "In  this  connection 
it  may  be  as  well  to  say  something  with  reference  to  my 
candidacy  of  two  years  ago.  My  reasons  for  being  a 
candidate  at  that  time  were  justified  and  emphasized  by 
the  convention  in  its  platform.  It  has  been  largely  the 
faithful  observance  of  the  pledges  then  given  which  en 
titles  Governor  Scofield 's  administration,  at  this  time, 
to  public  approval,  in  which  I  heartily  join." 

In  May,  1902,  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel  printed  a  series 
of  letters  that  had  passed  two  years  before  between  H. 
G.  Kress  of  Manitowoc  and  Henry  C.  Payne  to  show 
that  Mr.  LaFollette  had  been  willing  in  1900  to  treat 
with  the  "machine."  The  first  letter  written  by  Mr. 
Kress  to  Mr.  Payne  was  dated  May  3,  1900,  nearly  two 
weeks  before  LaFollette  announced  his  candidacy. 
After  referring  to  the  fight  that  had  been  made  by  La 
Follette  men  on  Payne's  re-election  to  the  national  com 
mittee  at  the  state  convention  recently  held  in  Milwaukee 
for  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  national  convention, 
the  letter  continued : 

Why  can't  we  get  together?  Do  you  object  if  the  contesting 
against  you  is  stopped?  Confidentially,  Mr.  Payne,  I  believe  the 
time  is  ripe  to  unite  forces.  Why  not  let  LaFollette  have  his 
chance  if  he  is  willing  to  stop  fighting  on  his  side?  I  will  say 
that  I  was  authorized  by  certain  LaFollette  leaders  to  see  you  the 
evening  before  the  convention,  but  I  found  you  were  out  of  the 
city.  They  knew  I  was  your  friend  and  was  also  friendly  to  Bob. 
Those  young  fellows  are  a  growing  strength  and  will  increase  in 


142  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

power  yearly.     We  can  have  them  with  us  by  a  little  diplomacy 
at  this  time." 

Mr.  Payne  replied  by  letter  May  5  that  he  deplored 
the  factionalism  within  the  party  and  would  be  willing 
to  meet  Mr.  Kress  for  further  consultation.  Accordingly 
on  May  11  Kress  and  Jerre  C.  Murphy  called  on  Mr. 
Payne,  who  suggested  that  written  propositions  be  sub 
mitted.  Later  such  propositions  were  presented  as  fol 
lows  : 

1.  That  there   is   no   opposition   so  far   as   LaFollette  is  con 
cerned,  to  you  as  chairman  or  as  a  member  of  the  national  com 
mittee. 

2.  That  neither  you  nor  Mr.   Pfister  would  work  against  Mr. 
LaFollette  for  governor  if  he  decided  to  be  a  candidate. 

3.  Both   sides   to   keep   hands   off    the   next   senatorial    fight — 
that  is,  in  this  campaign. 

4.  That  interests  be  mutualized  as  time  advances. 

The  propositions  were  finally  rejected  by  Payne,  who 
declared  that  as  a  friend  of  Senator  Spooner  he  could 
not  subscribe  to  them,  and  nothing  definite  and  tangible 
came  of  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Kress. 

However,  it  is  possible  that  the  very  fact  that  such 
negotiations  were  attempted  may  have  tended  to  soften 
the  feelings  between  the  two  factions.  It  established  a 
sort  of  truce,  as  it  were.  In  the  meantime,  LaFollette 
had  made  his  friendly  announcement  as  a  candidate  and 
followed  it  May  30  with  an  interview  of  like  tenor,  while 
Payne  was  so  engrossed  with  the  national  convention 
then  approaching  as  to  find  little  time  for  state  politics. 
Also  in  the  meantime  the  LaFollette  hustlers  through 
out  the  state  were  industriously  carrying  county  after 
county  for  him  by  methods  more  friendly  than  they  had 
pursued  in  the  past.  It  may  therefore  be  within  bounds 
to  say  that  the  Kress  negotiations  were  not  wholly  de 
void  of  results. 

When  LaFollette  read  his  message  in  1901,  making 
firm  demand  for  the  reforms  in  taxation  he  had  so  long 
championed,  a  cry  went  up  from  the  railroads  and  other 


LAFOLLETTE' S     FlRST     NOMINATION     AND     ELECTION  143 

corporations  that  he  was  "not  playing  fair;"  that  he 
had  agreed  in  the  campaign  to  treat  the  railroads  and 
other  corporations  justly  and  that  with  that  understand 
ing  they  had  not  opposed  him,  and  consequently  he  had 
been  accorded  a  unanimous  nomination  and  no  opposi 
tion  at  the  polls.  It  was  said  that  a  truce  and  pact  had 
been  brought  about  through  Congressman  Babcock  and 
Henry  Casson.  It  is  true  that  in  the  winter  and  early 
spring  of  1900  LaFollette  and  Babcock  held  a  long  dis 
tance  flirtation  between  Madison  and  Washington  and 
it  may  be  that  Babcock  labored  to  make  the  railroads 
and  other  corporations  "lay  down,"  as  many  people  be 
lieved  and  still  believe  that  he  and  Henry  C.  Payne  did. 
The  so-called  Kress  letters,  published  in  1902,  have  been 
cited  to  support  this  view.  But  Babcock  engineered  no 
deal  between  LaFollette  and  the  railroads  nor  is  he  en 
titled  to  any  particular  credit  for  bringing  about  the 
nomination  of  LaFollette.  The  nomination  was  inevita 
ble  that  year  and  it  was  doubtless  the  realization  of  that 
fact  and  the  wisdom  of  being  as  agreeable  as  possible  to 
the  inevitable  that  influenced  the  astute  railroad  heads 
in  the  matter.  Indeed  at  a  meeting  at  dinner  in  the 
Grand  Pacific  hotel  in  Chicago  that  spring  between  La 
Follette  and  Babcock  the  former  told  Babcock  frankly 
that  he  did  not  expect  to  be  able  to  work  with  him  be 
cause  their  methods  were  directly  opposed,  he,  (LaFol 
lette)  believing  in  working  through  the  people  from  the 
bottom  up,  while  Babcock 's  method  was  from  the  top 
down. 

It  is  related  that  Babcock  was  informed  at  the  Chicago 
headquarters  by  Henry  C.  Payne  that  nothing  could 
prevent  the  nomination  of  LaFollette  and  that  he  re 
plied  with  tears  in  his  eyes :  "I  know  it  and  I  hate  to 
see  it."  But  Babcock  realized  that  he  needed  the  sup 
port  of  the  heavy  LaFollette  element  in  his*  district  to 
be  renominated.  At  the  state  convention  in  1898  he  had 


144  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

secretly  worked  against  LaFollette  until  warned  by  the 
LaFollette  men  to  desist  if  he  valued  his  future  pros 
pects.  Accordingly  he  did  such  marked  work  in  La 
Follette  's  interest  in  the  campaign  of  1900  that  the  as 
sumed  " Bob-Bab"  alliance  became  a  byword  with  cer 
tain  opposition  newspapers.  Not  only  did  many  of  his 
old  opponents  cease  their  warfare  upon  him,  but  they 
sought  his  camp.  "LaFollette  did  not  want  their  help- 
then,  ' '  said  one  of  his  supporters  of  the  time,  ' '  he  would 
rather  have  beaten  them  that  year;  but  they  were  so 
friendly  we  could  not  keep  them  out  of  the  office." 

It  was  hinted  too  in  that  legislative  session  that  La 
Follette  had  made  the  railroads  some  promise  in  a  letter 
to  Thomas  H.  Gill,  attorney  for  the  Wisconsin  Central, 
which  he  was  not  observing.  This  letter,  it  may  now  be 
said,  had  been  written  by  LaFollette  with  great  care  and 
in  consultation  with  advisers,  as  it  was  felt  it  might  be 
highly  important  in  the  future,  but  for  some  reason  it 
never  saw  the  light  of  publicity  until  brought  out  by 
Lincoln  Steffens  in  his  famous  magazine  article  in  1904. 
That  LaFollette  had  made  the  railroads  no  promises  is 
shown  by  the  letter,  which  follows : 

Madison,  Wis.,  May   12,   1900. 
Dear  Tom: 

You  have  been  my  personal  and  political  friend  for  twenty 
years.  Should  I  become  a  candidate  for  the  nomination  for  gov 
ernor,  I  want  your  continued  support,  if  you  can  consistently  ac 
cord  it  to  me.  But  you  are  the  attorney  for  the  Wisconsin  Cen 
tral  R.  B.  Co.,  and  I  am  not  willing  that  you  should  be  placed  in 
any  position  where  you  could  be  subjected  to  any  criticism  or 
embarrassment  with  your  employers  on  my  account.  For  this 
reason,  I  desire  to  state  to  you  in  so  far  as  I  am  able  my  position 
in  relation  to  the  question  of  railway  taxation,  which  has  now 
become  one  of  public  interest,  and  is  likely  to  so  continue  until 
rightly  settled.  This  I  can  do  in  a  very  few  words. 

Railroad  corporations  should  pay  neither  more  nor  less  than  a 
justly  proportionate  share  of  taxes  with  the  other  taxable  property 
of  the  state.  If  I  were  in  a  position  to  pass  officially  upon  a  bill 
to  change  existing  law,  it  would  be  my  first  care  to  know  whether 


LAFOLLETTE'S    FIRST    NOMINATION    AND    ELECTION        145 

the  rate  therein  proposed  was  just  in  proportion  to  the  property 
of  other  corporations  and  individuals  as  then  taxed,  or  as  therein 
proposed  to  be  taxed.  The  determination  of  that  question  would 
be  controlling.  If  such  rate  was  less  than  the  justly  proportionate 
share  which  should  be  borne  by  the  railroads,  then  I  should  favor 
increasing  it  to  make  it  justly  proportionate.  If  the  proposed 
rate  was  more  than  the  justly  proportionate  share,  in  comparison 
with  the  property  of  other  corporations,  and  of  individuals  taxed 
under  the  law,  then  I  should  favor  decreasing  to  make  it  justly 
proportionate. 

In  other  words,  I  would  favor  equal  and  exact  justice  to  each 
individual  and  to  every  interest,  yielding  to  neither  clamor  on  the 
one  hand,  nor  being  swerved  from  the  straight  course  by  any  in 
terest  upon  the  other.  This  position,  I  am  sure,  is  the  only  one 
which  could  commend  itself  to  you,  and  cannot  be  criticised  by 
any  legitimate  business  honestly  managed. 

Sincerely   yours. 

A  conspicuous  accession  to  the  LaFollette  ranks  about 
this  time  was  former  Congressman  Isaac  Stephenson,  the 
wealthy  Marinette  lumberman,  whose  relations  with  La 
Follette  and  the  latter 's  followers  were  to  become  his 
toric.  Whether  the  first  advances  toward  the  LaFollette- 
Stephenson  alliance  were  made  by  emissaries  of  the  Mad 
ison  man,  or  originated  in  Marinette,  is  unimportant,  but 
it  is  generally  agreed  that  Stephenson 's  chief  motive  in 
taking  up  LaFollette 's  cause  was  to  obtain  revenge  on 
Spooner  and  other  old-time  associates  for  not  support 
ing  his  senatorial  aspirations  in  1899.  By  taking  up 
with  the  new  and  rising  leader  he  saw  a  possible  oppor 
tunity  for  unhorsing  Spooner  and  probably  getting  his 
seat  himself.  If  LaFollette  promised  the  senatorship  to 
Stephenson  at  this  time  it  is  probable  that  he  felt  it  a 
bargain  which  because  of  Stephenson 's  years  he  proba 
bly  would  not  be  called  upon  to  observe,  but  the  some 
what  unpleasant  necessity,  if  so  he  felt  it,  came  all  too 
soon.  Like  the  true  "sport,"  however,  he  observed  the 
pact,  if  one  existed. 

"One  day,  I  think  it  was  in  the  spring  of  1900,"  said 

a  former  law  student  in  LaFollette 's  office,  ' '  we  received 
10 


I 

146  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

word  that  Uncle  Ike  was  coming  to  Madison  and  I  was 
detailed  to  meet  him  at  the  train  and  be  at  his  service 
generally.  As  Stephenson  emerged  from  the  train  he 
carried  a  small  hand  satchel  or  suitcase  and  I  reached 
for  it  to  relieve  him  of  it,  whereupon  he  extended  it  out 
of  my  reach,  gave  me  what  seemed  a  suspicious  look,  and 
said  he  could  carry  it  himself.  Of  course,  it  is  not  at 
all  likely  that  Uncle  Ike  carried  rolls  around  in  a 
satchel ;  it  was  more  likely  underwear ;  but  I  could  not 
help  thinking  of  the  incident  later  when  Stephenson  was 
charged  with  financing  the  campaigns  of  LaFollette.  I 
thought  at  the  time  that  he  suspected  me  of  being  a  con 
fidence  man,  and  we  both  looked  our  parts  for  such 
game,  I  being  young  and  dapper  and  he  the  seedy-look 
ing  one  supposed  to  have  a  plentiful  supply  of  the  long 
green  in  his  bag." 

The  amount  of  Stephenson 's  contributions  to  the  La 
Follette  cause,  by  the  way,  was  probably  not  known  even 
by  Stephenson  himself,  but  it  has  been  asserted  by  La 
Follette  leaders  to  have  been  about  $15,000.  This  does 
not  include  the  large  amount  of  money  spent  in  the 
founding  and  maintaining  of  the  Milwaukee  Free  Press, 
established  as  a  LaFollette  organ. 

This  reference  to  the  founding  of  the  Free  Press  serves 
to  recall  the  letter  written  on  the  subject  by  LaFollette 
to  H.  P.  Myrick,  editor  of  that  paper,  September  11, 
1905.  When  this  letter  was  printed  with  great  heads 
and  wide  margins  on  the  front  page  of  the  Free  Press 
in  the  spring  of  1909  it  created  a  sensation.  Sprung  in 
the  crisis  of  the  senatorial  deadlock,  its  publication  was 
designed  to  put  Stephenson  over  the  line,  so  to  speak, 
through  the  added  impetus  of  LaFollette 's  earlier  tribute 
to  him.  Immediately  the  question  was  raised,  "who 
ordered  its  publication?"  but  echo  mocked  the  query. 

The  genesis  of  the  letter  is  said  to  have  been  as  fol 
lows:  Some  time  after  the  election  of  1904  Governor 


LAFOLLETTE'S     FlRST     NOMINATION     AND     ELECTION  147 

LaFollette  was  requested  by  Mr.  Myrick  to  write  a  word 
of  appreciation  of  Mr.  Stephenson.  "His  enemies  are 
trying  to  discourage  him  and  kill  off  the  Free  Press," 
said  Myrick,  "by  saying  that  it  can't  succeed;  that  he 
will  have  to  continue  to  carry  it  at  great  expense.  They 
are  also  trying  to  stir  up  distrust  between  him  and  you. 
Now  Mr.  Stephenson  is  an  old  man  and  a  word  from  you 
would  offset  all  this  and  make  him  very  happy,  I  am  sure. 
I  wish  you  would  write  me  such  a  letter,  not  necessarily 
for  publication,  but  one  that  I  could  show  him  and  thus 
make  him  happy." 

LaFollette 's  kindlier  nature  was  touched  by  the  ap 
peal  and  he  agreed  to  Myrick 's  request.  When  Myrick 
received  the  letter  he  showed  it  to  Mr.  Stephenson,  who, 
as  had  been  predicted,  was  greatly  moved  by  it,  and  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  as  the  story  goes,  begged  Myrick  to 
give  him  the  letter  that  he  might  proudly  hand  it  down 
to  his  grandchildren. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  letter  was  evidently  care 
fully  written ;  it  is  not  fulsome,  nor  insincere,  but  such 
commendation  as  it  contains  is  confined  to  Mr.  Stephen- 
son's  worthy  enterprise  in  founding  and  maintaining 
the  Free  Press. 

February  16,  1909,  the  Milwaukee  Free  Press  devoted 
a  large  part  of  its  front  page  to  a  conspicuous  display  of 
this  personal  letter  written  by  Governor  LaFollette, 
dated  Chicago,  September  11,  1905,  addressed  to  H.  P. 
Myrick,  editor  of  the  Free  Press,  and  reading  in  part  as 
follows : 

Then  there  is  another  side  and  a  better  and  a  nobler  side  to 
this  Free  Press  proposition.  Mr.  Stephenson  cannot  overlook  it 
and  it  is  going  to  stand  as  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  enduring 
things  in  his  remarkable  life.  It  is  this :  The  Free  Press  is  a  part 
of  the  history  of  the  reform  movement,  which  began  in  Wisconsin 
and  has  become  the  dominant  idea  in  the  great  decade  upon  which 
we  are  now  entered  as  a  nation.  The  Free  Press  stands  today  as 
the  only  distinct  representative  of  that  idea  among  the  newspapers 
of  the  country. 


148  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Mr.  Stephenson  made  this  paper  possible.  The  paper  made 
the  fight  for  reform  in  Wisconsin  a  potential  fact  in  the  nation. 
It  is  the  best  supporter  of  the  president,  who  has  taken  up  the 
issue. 

Mr.  Stephenson  has  amassed  an  immense  fortune.  It  is  a 
great  thing  to  have  acquired  a  great  fortune  honestly  in  these 
days.  But  he  is  a  multi-millionaire  by  sheer  force  of  his  business 
abilities  and  sagacity.  The  Rockefellers,  Morgans,  Armours, 
Swifts,  and  thousands  of  others,  have  secured  their  fortunes  in 
violation  of  plain  criminal  statutes.  Isaac  Stephenson  will  be 
long  remembered  for  his  great  business  ability.  But  man  cannot 
live  by  bread  alone.  Man's  best  fame  cannot  rest  on  wealth 
alone.  In  the  last  four  years  he  has  founded  and  maintained  at 
great  cost  a  great  newspaper  which  is  doing  a  noble  work  for  the 
emancipation  of  government  from  graft — which  is  bringing  gov 
ernment  back  to  the  people,  which  day  by  day  is  saying  to  the 
big  corporations  of  Wisconsin :  and  the  country :  ' '  Conduct  your 
business  in  obedience  to  law  and  keep  your  corrupting  hands  off 
legislation. ' ' 

To  do  this  thing  and  make  this  paper  a  moral  and  political 
force  in  the  restoration  of  government  to  the  citizens  is  to  wield 
a  greater  power  and  render  a  greater  service  to  his  state  and 
country  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  many  men.  The  establishing  and 
maintaining  of  the  Free  Press  is  Mr.  Stephenson 's  best  monu 
ment.  It  is  an  act  of  patriotism.  His  family  and  his  friends 
and  the  history  of  his  time  will  cherish  it  as  the  really  greatest 
work  of  a  great  life. 

The  use  of  this  letter  by  the  Free  Press  also  serves  to 
recall  a  somewhat  similar  situation  in  1912  when  LaFol- 
lette's  earlier  tribute  to  Roosevelt  was  exploited  to  offset 
the  severe  strictures  LaFollette  was  then  passing  upon 
the  colonel.  Soon  after  Mr.  Roosevelt's  retirement  from 
the  presidency  Senator  LaFollette  took  occasion  to  speak 
a  word  in  praise  of  Roosevelt  because  of  his  attitude 
toward  certain  public  questions  while  in  office.  Roose 
velt  and  LaFollette  were  not  then  as  good  friends  as 
they  had  been  at  the  earlier  part  of  LaFollette 's  sena 
torial  career.  The  president  had  deemed  it  expedient 
to  materially  weaken  a  part  of  his  legislative  program 
relative  to  conservation  and  whose  outlines  he  had  re 
quested  Senator  LaFollette  to  draw.  As  LaFollette  had 


LAFOLLETTE'S     FlRST     NOMINATION     AND     ELECTION  149 

put  weeks  of  hard  work  at  this  he  was  disappointed  to 
see  it  consigned  unceremoniously  to  the  junk  heap. 
Then  too  there  had  been  a  scene  at  the  white  house  be 
tween  these  two  worthies.  The  president  had  twice  sent 
an  urgent  request  to  LaFollette  to  call  at  the  white 
house.  Rising  from  a  sick  bed  the  senator  went  there, 
only  to  find  that  the  president's  sole  object  was  to  "call 
him  down"  for  some  alleged  criticism  the  senator  had 
privately  passed  on  the  president's  change  relative  to 
public  lands  or  something  else.  LaFollette  did  not  relish 
being  called  from  a  sick  bed  simply  to  be  brow-beaten, 
and  leaning  on  a  table  and  trembling  with  weakness  he 
yet  bearded  the  later  lion-tamer  in  his  den  and  gave  him 
such  a  plain  talk  as  perhaps  a  president  has  seldom  re> 
ceived  to  his  face,  not  forgetting  to  refer  to  the  fact  that 
he  had  been  obliged  to  make  his  Wisconsin  fight,  not 
only  without  his  (Roosevelt's)  moral  aid,  but  in  the 
face  of  his  opposition,  and  was  therefore,  not  beholden  to 
the  president  for  a  single  favor.  He  admitted  making 
the  criticism  and  repeated  it  to  the  president's  face. 

The  president  finally  sought  to  mollify  the  wrath  of 
his  visitor  by  lightly  remarking  that  the  senator  was  "a 
fighter  after  his  own  heart,"  and  the  incident  closed 
with  the  senator's  somewhat  unconventional  departure. 
When  therefore  LaFollette  was  later  twitted  for  the 
tribute  he  had  paid  the  retired  president  he  made  this 
explanation : 

I  was  simply  observing  the  ordinary  rules  of  courtesy,  and 
obeying  the  natural  human  impulse  to  speak  kindly  of  the  dead, 
as  it  were.  It  was  expected  that  Roosevelt,  crowned  with  the 
great  honors  of  the  presidency,  and  enjoying  the  love  and  confi 
dence  of  his  people  as  seldom  a  president  had,  would  now  pass 
into  dignified  retirement  after  the  manner  of  Grover  Cleveland, 
for  instance.  He  had  himself  declared  that  he  would  not  again 
be  a  candidate  for  the  presidency  and  there  was  no  reason  for 
doubting  his  word.  Accordingly  such  tributes  as  we  paid  were 
due  him  and  to  be  expected. 

Colonel  Roosevelt  thus  had  himself  to  blame  that  these 


150  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

tributes  were  later  to  become  the  subject  of  sardonic 
raillery.  In  refusing  to  remain  "dead,"  he  could 
scarcely  wonder  that  his  mourners,  as  it  were,  should 
confess  to  a  feeling  of  kinship  with  the  victim  of  the  con 
fidence  man.  Their  dignity  appeared  to  have  been  put 
to  mockery ;  their  tears  had  fallen  for  a  prestidigitateur, 
not  a  corpse. 

At  this  juncture  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  call  at 
tention  to  one  or  two  features  of  the  campaign  of  1911 
and  1912.  When  LaFollette's  friends  began  grooming 
him  for  the  presidential  contest  of  1912  his  practical  eye 
foresaw  that  the  probable  chief  obstacle  to  securing  the 
united  progressive  support  would  be  Colonel  Roosevelt. 
Strong  and  ambitious  characters  like  Roosevelt's  do  not 
give  themselves  unreservedly  to  any  cause  not  wholly 
their  own.  Some  avenue  is  left  open  for  exigencies ;  for 
the  seizure  of  power  by  self  should  it  seem  possible  and 
desirable.  Knowing  human  nature,  and  particularly 
Rooseveltian  nature,  LaFollette  foresaw  the  cloud  which 
later  was  to  wreck  the  progressive  hope.  Accordingly 
he  laid  down  as  a  condition  to  his  supporters  that  they 
would  have  to  secure  a  pledge,  if  possible,  from  Roose 
velt,  that  if  he  would  not  himself  get  behind  the  LaFol 
lette  candidacy  he  would  at  least  not  complicate  the  sit 
uation  by  himself  becoming  a  candidate.  The  senator's 
friends  later  gave  it  as  their  understanding  and  belief 
that  Roosevelt  had  practically  agreed  to  this  program. 

Another  condition  exacted  by  LaFollette  wras  that  a 
sufficient  fund  be  raised  to  make  a  dignified  and  thor 
ough  campaign ;  otherwise  he  would  not  assume  the  lead 
ership.  Money  would  be  needed  to  contest  the  immense 
resources  of  the  administration  in  power.  When  some 
$30,000  had  been  pledged  as  an  earnest  of  good  faith 
and  the  Roosevelt  bogie  seemed  to  have  been  laid,  the 
Wisconsin  leader  prepared  to  set  in  motion  the  machin 
ery  for  capturing  the  nomination. 


LAFOLLETTE'S    FIRST    NOMINATION    AND    ELECTION        151 

With  the  entrance  of  LaFollette  in  the  field  the  other 
candidates  for  governor  made  no  headway.  Outside  of 
their  immediate  territories  the  counties  were  going  for 
LaFollette  at  the  caucuses.  It  remained,  however,  for 
a  decisive  dual  victory  to  flash  LaFollette  upon  the 'mind 
of  the  state  as  the  coming  man.  This  was  the  carrying 
of  Oconto  county,  the  home  of  Governor  Scofield,  and 
Waukesha  county,  the  home  of  "Long"  Jones,  also  a 
candidate  for  governor,  on  the  same  day.  How  Oconto 
county  was  won  for  LaFollette  was  later  described  by 
Henry  Johnson  as  follows : 

In  the  spring  of  1900  I  was  going  to  attend  the  state  con 
vention  at  Milwaukee  to  elect  delegates  to  the  national  conven 
tion.  Mr.  T.  E.  Mills  came  to  my  house  the  night  before  I 
started  and  said  to  me :  ' '  Henry,  go  and  see  Bob  LaFollette  and 
tell  him  that  we  will  give  him  some  delegates  from  Oconto  county, 
if  he  will  run  for  governor. ' '  This  being  Scofield 's  county  we 
were  not  supposed  to  elect  LaFollette  delegates.  I  met  LaFollette 
at  his  room  in  the  Plankinton  hotel.  I  was  introduced  to  him 
by  H.  E.  McEachron  of  Wausau,  and  the  first  thing  I  said  to 
nim  was,  "Are  you  a  candidate  for  governor?  If  so,  we  can  assure 
you  of  some  delegates  from  Oconto  county. ' '  LaFollette  looked  • 
at  me  and  said,  ' '  You  don 't  mean  to  say  that  I  can  have  some 
delegates  from  Scofield 's  home  county?  If  you  can  hold  an 
early  convention  and  give  me  a  delegation  from  Oconto  county, 
the  fight  is  won.  Go  home  and  see  what  you  can  do." 

I  did  so,  we  had  the  convention  and  a  solid  delegation  for 
Bob  marched  into  the  convention  at  Milwaukee  with  a  banner 
bearing  this  inscription:  "100,000  Majority  for  Bob  in  No 
vember."  It  happened  to  be  103,000  majority. 

The  day  before  the  caucuses  were  held  in  these  coun 
ties  Governor  Scofield  issued  a  long  interview  attacking 
LaFollette  and  declaring  that  he  would  consider  it  a 
great  misfortune  to  the  party  were  Mr.  LaFollette  to 
be  nominated.  Charging  that  LaFollette  and  his  fol 
lowers  had  cut  him  in  1898,  he  cited  the  town  of  Prim 
rose,  Dane  county,  LaFollette 's  native  town,  showing 
that  while  he  (Scofield)  had  received  41  votes  and  his 
democratic  opponent,  Judge  Sawyer,  68,  the  other  re- 


152  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

publicans  on  the  state  ticket  had  received  about  100 
votes  and  the  other  democrats  on  the  state  ticket  ap 
proximately  only  15. 

"I  do  not  hesitate,"  he  declared,  "to  say  that  I  should 
regard  the  success  of  Mr.  LaFollette  at  this  time  as 
disastrous  to  the  harmony  and  permanent  interests  of 
the  party  in  Wisconsin.  *  *  *  *  If  the  earnest  and 
laborious  efforts  which  I  have  made  to  promote  the  pub 
lic  interest  and  give  Wisconsin  a  good  administration 
are  satisfactory  to  the  people,  am  I  not  entitled  to  the 
endorsement  by  the  nomination  as  my  successor  of  a 
different  kind  of  republican  from  Mr.  LaFollette  ?  And 
endorsement  by  resolution  of  a  republican  convention, 
followed  by  his  nomination  as  my  successor,  would  be  a 
singular  reward  for  hard  service  to  the  people  and  the 
party." 

Nevertheless,  such  was  to  be  the  destined  course  of 
events.  LaFollette  declined  to  make  any  comment  on 
the  attack.  However,  in  the  caucuses  the  following  day 
he  swept  not  only  Oconto  county  but  both  the  assembly 
districts  of  Waukesha  county.  The  overthrow  of  Sco- 
field  on  his  own  ground  on  the  day  following  his  attack 
on  LaFollette,  and  the  practical  elimination  also  of  a 
rival  on  the  same  day  elated  the  followers  of  the  Madi 
son  man  and  correspondingly  depressed  the  opposition. 

On  June  30,  at  the  first  assembly  district  convention 
in  Waukesha,  Senator  Jones  announced  his  withdrawal 
as  a  candidate.  July  3  Mr.  Bradford  quit  the  race,  fol 
lowed  by  Senator  Whitehead  July  6,  General  Rogers 
July  14,  and  by  Senator  Stebbins  July  24,  leaving  the 
field  entirely  to  LaFollette. 

Immediately  on  the  defeat  of  Senator  Jones  in  Wau 
kesha  county,  Senator  Whitehead  had  hastened  to  Madi 
son,  where,  accompanied  by  Philo.  A.  Orton,  James  G. 
Monahan  and  Cham.  Ingersoll  of  Beloit,  he  had  a  long 
interview  with  Senator  Spooner,  followed  by  another 
with  Governor  Scofield. 


LAFOLLETTE'S   FIRST    NOMINATION    AND   ELECTION       153 

If  Whitehead  had  expected  to  receive  any  comfort 
from  Spooner  he  must  have  been  grievously  disap 
pointed,  for  Spooner,  who  had  a  weakness  for  showing 
the  white  feather  at  critical  times,  was  himself  to  startle 
the  state  and  the  nation  and  completely  demoralize  the 
opposition  to  LaFollette  by  also  quitting  the  field,  so  to 
speak.  On  July  5,  he  gave  out  a  statement  announcing 
that  he  would  not  be  a  candidate  for  re-election  to  the 
United  States  senate  on  the  expiration  of  his  term  in 
1903.  This  statement,  which  was  of  considerable  length 
and  evidently  prepared  with  the  greatest  care  and  de 
liberation,  was  at  once  interpreted  as  a  recognition  by 
Spooner  of  the  "handwriting  on  the  wall;"  that  LaFol 
lette  was  the  ascendant  figure  in  Wisconsin  and  that  his 
( Spooner 's)  political  existence  thereafter  would  be  sub 
ject  to  the  grace  of  LaFollette.  Doubtless  he  saw  little 
hope  in  that  direction  and  pride,  no  less  than  want  of 
stomach  for  a  fight,  determined  him  to  turn  his  back  on 
the  new  order  of  things  whose  coming  seemed  irresistible 
to  his  unresolute  mind.  As  Senator  Withee  bluntly  put 
it,  "Senator  Spooner  is  beaten  anyhow,  but  he  needn't 
have  hollered  so  soon.  Still  it  was  a  good  play  to  get 
out  now. ' '  The  senator 's  announcement  read  as  follows : 

TO  THE  EEPUBLICANS  OF  WISCONSIN. 
There  are  to  be  elected  in  November  17  state  senators  who  will 
participate  in  choosing  at  the  legislative  session  of  1903  a  United 
States  senator  for  the  term  beginning  on  the  fourth  day  of  March 
of  that  year.  Having  unalterably  determined  not  to  be  a  candi 
date  for  re-election  to  the  senate,  I  deem  it  my  duty  at  this  time 
to  so  declare.  I  have  not  since  I  was  returned  to  the  senate  in 
1897  entertained  the  purpose  of  being  a  candidate  for  re-election. 
On  the  contrary  the  only  question  which  I  have  felt  called  upon 
to  consider  affecting  my  relation  to  the  position  has  been  whether 
duty  to  my  family  would  permit  me  to  serve  out  my  term.  It 
is,  I  think,  neither  usual  nor  ordinarily  wise  for  one  to  form, 
much  less  to  announce,  such  a  purpose  so  long  in  advance,  but 
as  I  am  absolutely  convinced  that  no  change  can  come  in  my  con 
viction  of  private  duty  in  the  matter,  I  feel  that  I  rest  under 


154  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

an  honorable  obligation  to  be  frank  with  my  party  about  it  and 
therefore  to  make  public  announcement  of  the  fact.  I  have  lately 
received  abundant  assurances,  all  of  course  unsought,  from  lead 
ing  republicans  in  most  of  the  17  senate  districts  (differing  in 
personal  preferences  upon  other  lines)  of  their  earnest  desire  for 
my  re-election  to  the  senate  and  of  their  unswerving  support.  To 
permit  the  not  unnatural  assumption  that  I  am  a  candidate  for 
re-election  to  go  without  correction  when  in  fact  I  am  not  a 
candidate  would,  it  seems  to  me,  be  little  if  anything  short  of 
duplicity  upon  my  part  and  this  I  cannot  tolerate.  Again,  there 
are  many  republicans,  among  them  long  time  friends  and  sup 
porters  of  mine,  well  entitled  by  reason  of  ability,  integrity,  party 
loyalty  and  dignity  of  character,  to  be  favorably  considered  for 
the  succession,  who  might  by  my  silence  be  deterred  from  candi 
dacy  to  their  detriment  and  to  the  detriment  of  the  public  in 
terest.  Moreover,  the  office  is  one  of  great  responsibility  and 
great  importance  to  the  people  and  they  are  entitled  seasonably 
to  know  who  are  and  who  are  not  candidates  for  it  in  order  that 
time  may  be  afforded  for  that  discussion  and  deliberation  essen 
tial  to  correct  judgment  and  wise  action. 

I  communicated  months  ago  not  only  my  purpose  not  to  be  a 
candidate  for  re-election  but  my  fear  that  I  might  not  be  able 
to  serve  out  the  term,  with  some  of  the  reasons  for  it,  in  confi 
dence  to  my  colleague,  Mr.  Quarles,  and  to  a  few  other  friends. 
Absorbed  in  the  important  duties  of  the  session  recently  ended 
and  distressed  by  the  serious  illness  of  a  member  of  my  family, 
I  did  not  consider  whether  duty  required  of  me  a  public  declara 
tion. 

No  one,  I  hope,  will  consider  me  unappreciative  of  or  indiffer 
ent  to  the  honor  which  pertains  to  a  seat  in  the  United  States 
senate  honorably  obtained.  I  will  not  admit  that  any  man  is 
more  keenly  sensible  of  its  dignity  and  importance.  It  affords 
to  one  who  comes  to  the  discharge  of  its  duties  a  proper  sense 
of  responsibility,  a  splendid  opportunity  for  useful  public  service. 
All  things  considered,  there  is,  in  my  judgment,  no  public  posi 
tion  which  is  at  all  comparable  with  it. 

While  fully  mindful  of  this  I  have  not  been  nor  am  I  able  to 
permit  it  to  influence  me  in  the  opinion  that  it  is  my  duty  for 
purely  personal  and  private  reasons  to  retire  at  the  expiration 
of  my  term.  Until  that  time  arrives  I  most  earnestly  hope  to  be 
able  to  serve. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  availing  myself  of  this  opportunity  to 
again  express  to  the  republican  party  of  Wisconsin  my  intense 
appreciation  of  the  confidence  which  it  has  repeatedly  manifested 


LAFOLLETTE'S     FlRST     NOMINATION     AND     ELECTION  155 

in  me  and  my  profound  gratitude  for  the  honors  which  it  has 
conferred  upon  me.  No  party  could  more  graciously  and  gener 
ously  bestow  upon  one  of  its  members  the  highest  honor  in  its 
gift  than  did  the  republican  party  of  Wisconsin  bestow  upon  me 
when  it  gave  me  in  1897  after  six  years  of  retirement  a  unani 
mous  re-election  to  the  United  States  senate.  It  has  been  to  me 
an  inspiration. 

I  hope  it  will  not  be  deemed  indelicate  for  me  also  here  to  ex 
press  my  appreciation  of  the  evidences  very  recently  afforded  with 
remarkable  unanimity  by  the  republican  press  of  Wisconsin  of 
the  continued  confidence  of  the  public  in  me.  It  certainly  must 
be  unnecessary  for  me  in  view  of  my  relations  to  the  party  since 
1884  to  give  assurance  that  this  elimination  of  myself  from  direct 
interest  in  Wisconsin  politics  will  not  in  any  degree  diminish  my 
efforts  to  promote  at  all  times  the  success  of  republican  principles 
and  of  republican  tickets  in  the  state. 

JOHN  C.  SPOONER. 

Madison,  Wis.,  July  5,  3900. 

The  abandonment  of  the  field  by  all  of  LaFollette's 
rivals  before  half  the  delegates  had  been  chosen  proved 
what  surprises  the  whirligig  of  politics  can  bring  about. 
But  a  scant  month  before  many  politicians  and  news 
papers  had  gravely  doubted  LaFollette's  ability  to  se 
cure  the  nomination.    As  stated,  at  a  visit  in  LaCrosse, 
Judge  E.  W.  Keyes  of  Madison  had  expressed  his  doubt 
about  LaFollette  carrying  even  Dane  county.    His  most 
sanguine  friends  had  never  anticipated  so  sweeping  a 
victory  as  that  which  was  to  result,  or  that  the  field 
would  be  clear  before  half  the  delegates  had  been  elected. 
It  was  a  sensation  so  novel  that  many  raised  the  ques 
tion,  "where  is  the  nigger?",  "what's  the  game  they're 
up  to  ? "    They  half  expected  some  coup  was  in  contem 
plation.    Indeed  there  was  talk  of  bringing  out  another 
candidate  to  stem  the  rising  tide  of  LaFollette 's  success, 
and  J.  B.  Treat,  Senator  J.  H.  Stout  and  Congressman 
J.  J.  Jenkins  were  mentioned,  but  disheartened  by  the 
action  of  Senator  Spooner  and  realizing  the  futility  of 
opposition  none  would  permit  his  name  to  be  mentioned 
and  LaFollette  was  permitted  to  come  to  the  convention 


156  LAFOLLETTE'S    WINNING    OF   WISCONSIN 

at  the  exposition  building  in  Milwaukee  August  8  for 
an  uncontested  nomination. 

In  his  previous  contests  LaFollette  had  stopped  at 
the  Plankinton  house  and  avoided  the  Hotel  Pfister, 
the  headquarters  of  the  old-line  politicians,  but  now  that 
he  was  master  of  the  situation  he  resolved  to  take  his 
place  in  the  midst  of  them  and  also  opened  headquarters 
at  the  Pfister. 

On  the  morning  of  the  convention  day  •  four  of  the 
candidates  who  had  been  opposing  LaFollette  for  the 
nomination,  Whitehead,  Rogers,  Bradford  and  Stebbins, 
met  in  the  Pfister  hotel  lobby  and  went  to  LaFollette 's 
room  where  Colonel  Rogers  said :  *  *  Mr.  LaFollette,  we 
call  for  the  purpose  of  striking  our  colors  and  surrender 
ing  to  you.  From  this  time  forward  we  are  all  of  us  for 
Bob  LaFollette." 

The  convention  was  a  great  and  memorable  affair  al 
though  unmarked  by  contests  which  had  characterized 
so  many  other  like  occasions.  LaFollette  had  everything 
completely  in  his  hands.  The  speech  of  Henry  C.  Adams 
as  chairman  was  a  notable  effort. 

Another  feature  of  the  speechmaking  was  the  address 
of  Gen.  George  E.  Bryant  placing  Mr.  LaFollette  in 
nomination.  In  imitation  of  Roscoe  Conkling's  speech 
in  eulogy  of  Grant  at  Chicago  twenty  years  before,  he 
began : 

You  ask  from  whence  my  candidate. 
This  my  answer  it  shall  be, 
He  came  from  the  town  of  Primrose; 
From  a  log  cabin  under  the  tree. 

The  tree  was  an  oak  of  the  primeval  forest.  In  its  broad, 
sturdy  branches  the  boy  first  heard  the  whispering  of  the  wind 
and  the  sweet  songs  of  the  wild  birds.  To  climb  its  sturdy  trunk 
to  its  topmost  limb — symbolic  of  the  triumph  that  awaits  him  on 
the  dawning  of  the  new  century — was  the  first  aspiration  of  this 
child  of  the  frontiersman.  Lad,  youth  and  man  have  I  known 
him,  and  he  has  never  failed  in  fealty  to  a  friend.  Student, 
teacher,  lawyer,  statesman,  his  path  from  the  opening  in  the  forest 


LAFOLLETTE'S    FIRST    NOMINATION    AND    ELECTION        157 

to  this  convention  hall  in  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  state 
has  been  trod  with  honest  steps.  Gold  could  not  buy  him;  flattery 
never  swerved  him;  threats  deterred  him  not.  As  persistent  a 
fighter  for  the  right  as  was  the  great  chieftain,  Ulysses  S.  Grant, 
when  the  battle  is  over  and  the  foe  surrendered  he  can  say,  'Let 
us  have  peace, '  with  the  same  fervency  as  did  the  hero  of  Appo- 
mattox,  etc. 

The  committee  of  notification  consisted  of  A.  H.  Long, 
Isaac  Stephenson,  A.  R.  Hall,  J.  W.  Babcock  and  N.  P. 
Haugen. 

As  LaFollette  entered  the  hall  on  the  arm  of  the  *  *  tall 
sycamore  from  Marinette"  the  ovation  given  him  was 
perhaps  then  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  state  conven 
tions  of  Wisconsin.  After  years  of  arduous  campaign 
ing  LaFollette  had  finally  won  a  complete  convention 
triumph,  and  his  enthusiastic  supporters  were  unre 
strained  in  their  exultation. 

Said  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel: 

He  was  given  a  perfect  ovation.  ThlT  applause  swept  back 
and  forth  across  the  great  auditorium  only  to  die  away  and  be 
caught  up  again.  Men  stood  up  and  flung  their  hats  in  the  air 
and  shouted;  women  in  the  galleries  stood  up  and  waved  their 
handkerchiefs,  and  over  and  above  all  this  din  arose  the  well- 
known  yell  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  It  was  several  min 
utes  before  Mr.  LaFollette  could  begin  his  address  although  he 
tried  to  do  so  several  times  before  he  succeeded. 

The  nominee's  speech  was  characteristic  of  the  man 
and  in  keeping  with  the  occasion.  A  great  levee  followed 
it,  in  the  course  of  which  the  nominee  had  to  shed  his 
coat  to  be  able  to  continue  hand-shaking.  Telegrams 
poured  in  upon  him  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  Even 
from  the  bullet-riddled  walls  of  the  American  legation 
in  far-off  Pekin,  then  the  scene  of  the  boxer  uprising, 
came  words  of  congratulation. 

There  were  other  human  sides  of  interest.  Mrs.  La 
Follette  sat  on  the  platform  through  the  exciting  scene 
of  the  convention  apparently  unmoved  by  the  stirring 
occasion,  her  fan  swaying  rhythmically  to  and  fro. 


158  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

When  her  husband  went  by  with  the  committee  to  make 
his  speech  a  few  persons  saw  a  white-gloved  hand  go  up 
and  be  swiftly  pressed  by  him  in  passing. 

" It  is  a  wonderful  day,  isn't  it?"  said  Mrs.  LaFollette 
in  one  of  the  lulls. 

"It  would  be  foolish  for  me  to  say  that  I  was  not 
proud  and  glad  and  happy,  but — now  this  will  sound 
queer,  yet  it  is  true — I  have  been  even  prouder  of  Mr. 
LaFollette  when  he  has  suffered  defeat.  You  see  that, 
after  all,  is  the  supreme  test,  and  I  have  always  rejoiced 
at  the  way  in  which  he  has  stood  firm  and  staunch  and 
undaunted  when  things  went  against  him.  That  is  the 
side  of  him  that  naturally  I  know  more  about  than  other 
people  do,  and  that  is  the  side  of  him,  after  all,  of  which 
I  am  proudest." 

Mrs.  Siebecker,  the  nominee's  sister,  who  had  come 
to  Milwaukee  to  see  her  brother  nominated,  had  the 
misfortune  to  sprain  her  ankle  on  the  way  to  the  train 
and  had  to  be  carried  into  the  train  by  her  husband  and 
likewise  carried  by  him  to  the  hotel  in  Milwaukee  and 
wherever  else  necessary.  Little  Robert,  the  nominee's 
five-year  old  son,  apparently  did  not  appreciate  his 
father's  prominence  and  feared  he  wo-  -  set  lost.  Be 
tween  keeping  an  eye  on  his  parent  and  collecting  badges 
he  was  a  very  busy  youngster.  This  may  be  here  men 
tioned  since  it  was  clue  to  this  same  child  that  the  nom 
inee  had  to  cut  short  his  stay  in  Milwaukee  and  forego 
a  reception,  a  sudden  attack  of  illness  requiring  it,  he 
hurried  back  with  him  to  Madison. 

Mr.  LaFollette 's  return  to  Madison  after  the  nomina 
tion  was  marked  by  a  cordial  demonstration  on  the  part 
of  the  citizens  of  Madison  regardless  of  party.  Mayor 
M.  J.  Hoven,  a  democrat,  issued  a  proclamation  urging 
all  citizens  to  meet  at  the  Park  hotel  at  7  o'clock  in  the 
evening  and  march  to  the  LaFollette  home  to  show  their 
appreciation  of  the  distinction  accorded  to  one  of  their 


LAFOLLETTE'S     FlEST     NOMINATION     AND     ELECTION  159 

townsmen  and  the  city.  A  great  gathering  resulted  and 
led  by  a  band  it  marched  to  the  modest  home  of  the 
nominee  on  Wilson  street.  Mr.  LaFollette  was  much 
affected  at  this  cordial  outpouring  of  his  neighbors  and 
standing  on  the  porch  with  Mrs.  LaFollette  on  one  side 
and  Gen.  George  E.  Bryant  on  the  other  he  expressed 
his  deep  appreciation.  In  part  he  said : 

Neighbors  and  friends:  thought  is  deeper  than  all  speech; 
feeling  deeper  than  all  thought.  If  I  could  command  tonight  all 
the  words  that  have  been  coined  by  the  cunning  of  speech  I  would 
yet  be  but  a  poor  bankrupt  to  voice  the  thoughts  and  feelings  that 
surge  over  me  and  through  me  at  this  cordial  and  more  than  neigh 
borly  greeting  that  you  have  given  me.  *  All  the  sweet 
and  tender  memories  of  that  time  (of  his  residence  in  Madison) 
come  over  me — my  college  days,  the  rounding  out  of  my  young 
manhood,  the  finding  of  my  wife,  my  struggles  as  a  young  lawyer, 
the  coming  of  our  children — all  return  to  me  tonight, 
wish  to  say  that  if  I  am  elected  to  the  great  office  of  governor  of 
Wisconsin  this  greeting  you  receive  tonight  shall  not  be  warmer 
than  that  I  shall  extend  you  then,  and  mindful  of  the  great  re 
sponsibilities  of  the  office,  and  with  the  support  of  such  good 
friends  as  you,  I  shall  endeavor  to  be  the  governor  of  the  whole 
people. 

Then  there  were  calls  for  Gen.  George  E.  Bryant  and 
in  affectionate  manner  Mr.  LaFollette  placed  one  arm 
around  the  general  and  presented  him  as  his  second 
father.  The  general  voiced  the  great  pride  he  felt  in 
the  occasion  and  said  he  had  long  felt  toward  "Bob" 
as  toward  his  own  sons. 

The  fact  that  the  old  order  was  changing  within  the 
party  was  well  set  forth  by  Judge  E.  AY.  Keyes,  who 
wrote  the  day  after  the  convention : 

The  membership  of  the  republican  state  convention  yesterday 
shows  that  a  great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  forces  that  are 
in  control  of  the  party.  In  former  years,  running  away  back  to 
the  birth  of  the  republican  party,  the  state  conventions  have  been 
largely  made  up  of  men  who  have  been  prominent  as  leaders  of 
the  party.  In  each  county  care  was  taken  to  elect  men  as  dele 
gates  who  had  had  experience  in  public  affairs.  As  young  men 
came  to  the  front  and  took  active  part  in  campaigns  they  were 


160  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

recognized  and  admitted  to  the  party  councils  where  they  were 
trained  for  political  work  by  those  who  knew  the  ways  of  politics. 
In  that  manner  a  perfect  organization  was  maintained  and  to  it' 
was  due  the  successive  republican  victories  in  the  state.  When 
reverses  came  occasionally  through  the  operation  of  issues  on  which 
the  majority  of  people  arrayed  themselves  against  the  republican 
party  the  strength  of  the  organization  was  such  that  it  soon 
brought  them  back  into  line. 

This  convention  is  noted  for  the  comparative  absence  of  the 
old  leaders  save  such  as  have  identified  themselves  fully  with  the 
element  which  has  come  into  control  of  the  party.  A  new  cult 
has  arisen  and  has  forced  its  way  to  the  front.  Never  before 
were  so  many  new  faces  seen  in  a  republican  state  convention  in 
Wisconsin.  The  majority  are  young  men  whose  enthusiasm  has 
taken  the  place  of  experience. .  Time  will  show  whether  such  a 
radical  change  in  control  of  the  party  organization  is  wise  or 
unwise.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  it  is  all  the  result  of  a  popular 
movement  throughout  the  state. 

"  • 

Because  of  the  state  of  his  health  LaFollette  had  not 
expected  to  make  a  speaking  campaign  in  1900  and  in 
fact  early  in  the  season  wrote  to  Frank  T.  Tucker  of 
Neillsville  that  on  the  advice  of  his  physician  he  would 
make  no  speaking  tour,  but  visit  the  various  counties 
and  confer  with  friends  instead.  However,  his  health 
improved  and  permitted  a  change  in  his  plans. 

The  campaigning  done  by  LaFollette  in  the  seven 
weeks  preceding  the  election  that  year  had  never  been 
approached  by  anyone  in  the  state's  history  for  a  given 
time.  Between  the  date  of  his  opening  at  Milwaukee, 
September  19,  and  his  closing  at  Madison,  November  3, 
he  traveled  nearly  6,500  miles — more  than  the  state's 
entire  mileage — and  visited  61  of  the  70  counties  of  the 
state.  In  all  he  made  216  speeches.  During  the  last 
three  weeks  when  he  traveled  by  special  train  he  aver 
aged  ten  speeches  a  day,  the  day  speeches  averaging 
twenty-one  minutes  in  length  and  the  evening  two  hours 
and  nine  minutes.  His  average  day  audience  was  esti 
mated  at  880  and  his  night  audience  at  2,100. 

As  one  reads  the  reports  of  these  speeches  in  the  light 


LAFOLLETTE'S   FIRST   NOMINATION   AND   ELECTION       161 

of  the  anti-corporation  crusade  made  by  LaFollette  in 
the  years  immediately  preceding  and  in  the  terrific  fac 
tional  warfare  that  followed  at  once  after  his  first  elec 
tion,  he  is  apt  to  be  singularly  impressed  by  the  entire 
absence  in  them  of  any  word  or  tone  of  bitterness  or 
denunciation.  There  is  no  rasping  of  the  railroads,  no 
charge  that  they  or  other  corporations  were  not  paying 
their  share  of  taxes,  no  criticisms  of  past  legislatures 
or  officials  that  had  marked  earlier  addresses.  The 
speeches  were  almost  entirely  along  national  lines,  with 
primary  elections  alone  urged  as  a  state  issue.  Accord 
ingly  it  is  scarcely  to  be  wondered  at  that  many  people 
thus  suspected  a  deal  had  been  made  between  LaFollette 
and  the  railroads,  particularly  since  the  railroads  had 
apparently  made  no  fight  on  his  nomination.  But  the 
LaFollette  policy  in  the  campaign  was  apparently  a  car 
rying  out  of  the  spirit  of  his  announcement  as  a  candi 
date  when  he  expressed  gratification  at  the  better  feel 
ing  in  the  party  and  declared  he  would  do  all  that  he 
could  consistent  with  principle  to  promote  that  harmony. 
At  any  rate  he  seems  to  have  wisely  chosen  the  course 
that  would  ensure  him  general  support. 

In  an  elaborate  speech  in  Milwaukee,  September  19, 
opening  his  campaign,  Mr.  LaFollette  discussed  broadly 
the  national  issues  of  the  day,  paying  much  attention 
to  the  anti-imperialistic  charges  of  the  democratic  party 
and  talking  conventional  republican  prosperity  doctrine. 
Toward  the  close  he  devoted  about  one-tenth  of  his  time 
to  a  discussion  of  primary  elections,  largely  academic, 
but  raised  no  other  state  issues.  The  Milwaukee  address 
was  typical  of  those  that  followed. 

So  great  was  the  enthusiasm  over  LaFollette  and  so 
pressing  the  demands  for  speeches  from  him  that  it  was 
early  discovered  that  the  only  way  to  meet  the  demands 
would  be  to  employ  a  special  train.  To  this  Mr.  LaFol 
lette  finally  assented,  and  Gen.  George  E.  Bryant,  chair- 
11 


162  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

man  of  the  state  central  committee,  arranged  for  such 
special  with  the  Wisconsin  Central  railroad  and  this 
train  was  used  during  the  three  weeks  preceding  the  elec 
tion.  It  was  stipulated  that  the  committee  was  to  pay 
$40  each  day  to  every  road  upon  which  the  special  ran 
in  any  day.  Sometimes  the  cost  thus  ran  up  to  $120  a 
day.  On  the  other  hand  the  special  had  the  right  of 
way  over  all  other  trains  so  that  the  best  possible  time 
could  be  made.  Mrs.  LaFollette  accompanied  her  hus 
band  throughout  most  of  the  campaign,  as  did  Alfred 
T.  Rogers,  who  had  charge  of  the  train  schedules.  Dur 
ing  a  good  share  of  the  traveling  John  Strange  of 
Neenah,  later  lieutenant  governor,  acted  as  general  util 
ity  man.  Then  there  were  newspaper  representatives 
and  usually  a  number  of  politicians  in  the  party. 

The  campaign  was  marked  by  a  number  of  interesting 
incidents.  Mr.  Strange  composed  some  verses  to  the  air 
of  "When  Johnny  Comes  Marching  Home  Again," 
which  after  the  author  had  personally  "tried  them  out" 
on  the  audience  at  Spooner  were  afterward  sung  at  a 
number  of  other  meetings.  Two  stanzas  follow : 

When  voters  go  forth  to  vote  this  fall, 

I  think  I  hear, 
A  little,  still  voice,  a- whispering : 

' f  Take  keer,  take  keer, 
Remember  the  days  of  '93, 
When  you  voted  out  prosperity; 
From  good  to  bad  is  only  a  vote,  you  know." 

LaFollette  has  stood  in  battle  brave, 

A  good  true  man; 
He  built  a  platform  in   >98 

Upon  a  plan 

Which  lacked  but  a  plank  to  stand  the  test; 
We  have  added  that  and  will  do  the  rest, 
And  we'll  elect  Bob  LaFollette, 

Because  he's  the  people's  man. 


LAFOLLETTE'S     FlEST     NOMINATION     AND     ELECTION          163 

His  banner  day  of  speaking  was  probably  October  23, 
when,  beginning  at  Rhinelander  at  8  :45  a.  m.  and  clos 
ing  at  Oconto  at  11  p.  m.,  he  made  fifteen  speeches, 
speaking  a  total  of  seven  hours  and  ten  minutes.  The 
day  included  150  miles  of  travel  and  the  reaching  of 
11,000  people. 

Parades  were  features  of  many  meetings,  with  brass 
bands  and  uniformed  clubs  and  occasionally,  as  at 
Oconto,  he  was  welcomed  with  the  booming  of  cannon. 
Often  the  receptions  took  on  unique  forms.  At  Inde 
pendence,  a  small  north  Wisconsin  place,  the  citizens 
had  built  an  evergreen  arch  over  the  track  on  which  the 
special  was  to  go  and  had  adorned  it  with  flags  and  bunt 
ing.  At  Little  Suamico  he  held  in  his  arms  for  a  time  a 
little  three-year-old  girl  who  was  passed  up  to  him  while 
he  talked,  and  carried  away  a  great  red  apple  forced 
upon  him  as  a  reward.  Unusually  demonstrative  meet 
ings  were  held  at  Superior,  Janesville  and  Stoughton. 
At  Janesville  he  was  introduced  by  Senator  Whitehead, 
a  recent  rival  for  the  nomination,  and  here  Col.  E.  0. 
Kimberly  sang  John  Strange 's  campaign  song.  At  Oak- 
field  he  found  the  people  wearing  yellow  oak  leaves  in 
his  honor  and  naturally  had  to  submit  to  the  pinning 
of  one  upon  his  own  coat  by  one  of  the  young  women 
of  the  place.  At  Brodhead,  where  he  had  expected  to 
stay  only  ten  minutes,  he  was  welcomed  with  the  firing 
of  cannon  and  drawn  from  his  train  to  the  town  hall 
where  he  found  1,500  people  awaiting  him  and  where 
44  little  girls  representing  the  states  showered  him  with 
little  bouquets.  A  total  of  twelve  speeches  were  made 
on  this  day,  at  Shullsburg,  Gratiot,  Mineral  Point, 
Platteville,  Belmont,  Darlington,  South  Wayne,  Brown-' 
town,  Monroe,  Brodhead,  Orfordville  and  Beloit.  A 
feature  of  the  Dodgeville  meeting  was  the  reading  by 
the  candidate  of  a  request  handed  him  by  a  number  of 
girls  asking  one  of  the  teachers  to  excuse  them  for  cut 
ting  school  to  come  to  the  station  to  hear  him. 


164  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

These  incidents  serve  to  show  the  interest  taken  in 
the  man  and  the  warm  place  he  had  acquired  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people. 

Louis  G.  Bomrich  of  Kenosha,  who  became  the  demo 
cratic  candidate  for  governor,  was  kept  "on  the  map" 
for  a  time  by  a  picturesque  phrase  of  one  of  his  sup 
porters,  who  suggested  for  a  war  cry,  "Bryan,  Bomrich 
or  Blood !"  but  was  overwhelmed  in  the  election  land 
slide.  With  four  candidates  against  him,  LaFollette 
was  elected  by  the  unparalleled  plurality  of  102,745 
votes  and  a  net  majority  of  85,941.  The  vote  stood: 
LaFollette,  republican,  263,419;  Bomrich,  democratic, 
160,674;  Smith,  prohibition,  9,707;  Tuttle,  social  demo 
cratic,  6,590 ;  Wilkie,  social  labor,  507 ;  total,  440,897. 


Home  of  R.  M.   LaFollette  when  elected 
governor.    Wilson   Street,   Madison,   Wis. 


CHAPTER  XII 

Stirring  Legislative  Session  of  1901. 

LAFOLLETTE  READS  MESSAGE  TO  LEGISLATURE — DEMANDS  PRI 
MARY  ELECTION  LEGISLATION  AND  ADVALOREM  TAXATION  OF  BAIL- 
ROADS — GREAT  BATTLE  OVER  PRIMARY  ELECTIONS — MEMORABLE 
NIGHT  SESSION  —  GOVERNOR  's  MEASURES  DEFEATED  —  SENATE 
ADOPTS  RESOLUTION  OF  CENSURE. 

1  HE  change  of  administrations  in  January,  1901,  was 
to  be  more  deeply  significant  to  Wisconsin  than  perhaps 
the  most  far-seeing  student  of  the  times  imagined.  It 
was  to  mark  the  passing  of  an  old  order  which  harked 
back  to  the  past,  and  the  advent  of  a  new  one  whose 
keener  ear  was  responsive  rather  to  the  future.  The 
traditional  republicanism,  exemplified  in  older  men,  con 
trolled  by  conservatism,  and  holding  to  established  rou 
tine,  to  party  fetiches  and  aristocratic  respectability, 
was  to  give  way  to  a  new  ideal  of  service  to  the  state, 
and  a  new  type  of  public  servant.  The  standard  was 
to  pass  from  old  hands  to  young  and  past  ideals  and 
practices  were  to  take  the  natural  course  of  the  outworn. 
Governor  Scofield  was  to  be  the  last  old  soldier  gov 
ernor — in  all  probability.  No  longer  was  the  bluecoat 
to  be  the  familiar  and  dominant  figure  it  had  been  for  a 
generation ;  no  longer  was  it  to  be  sufficient  for  the  party 
to  rest  on  past  achievements,  on  the  prestige  of'  a  mili 
tary  renown.  The  new  century  with  its  changed  con 
ditions  demanded  a  new  consecration,  and  responsive  to 
this  demand  a  new  civic  conscience,  appreciating  its  offi 
cial  and  social  responsibilities,  had  arisen.  And  with 
the  beginning  of  the  new  century — the  promised  era  of 
humanitarianism  and  democracy — it  seemed  appropriate 
that  a  native-born  son  of  the  stete — the  first  to  be  elected 
to  that  high  office — should  be  inaugurated  governor. 


166  LAFOLLETTE  Js  WINNING  OP  WISCONSIN 

Nevertheless  it  is  probable  that  but  few  students  of 
the  time  foresaw  that  the  great  battle  which  was  to 
sweep  away  the  old  order  and  determine  the  issue  of 
popular  rule  in  the  state  was  impending.  The  inaugura 
tion  of  Governor  LaFollette  January  7  differed  in  no 
essential  respect  from  previous  immediate  functions  of 
its  kind.  While  he  had  opposed  and  deplored  the  elec 
tion  of  LaFollette  as  his  successor,  Governor  Scofield 
had  met  the  usual  demands  of  the  occasion,  though  with 
severe  formality,  by  escorting  his  successor  to  the  assem 
bly  chamber  to  have  the  oath  of  office  administered  by 
the  chief  justice,  although  that  formality  ended  he  then 
promptly  left  the  capitol  and  took  no  further  part  in 
the  ceremonies.  It  was  the  usual  festal  day  in  Madison, 
culminating  in  a  democratic  inaugural  ball  in  the  uni 
versity  armory  in  the  evening  devoid  of  striking  inci 
dent.  LaFollette  had  been  elected  by  the  largest  plu 
rality  ever  given  a  candidate  for  governor  and  appar 
ently  by  a  united  party  in  whose  ranks  all  was  now  har 
mony  and  good  will. 

But  that  stirring  and  unusual  times  were  ahead  was 
foreshadowed  when  at  the  meeting  of  the  legislature 
Governor  LaFollette  presented  his  first  message.  This 
was  a  remarkable  state  paper  as  such,  the  longest  of  its 
kind  that  any  Wisconsin  executive  had_so  far  written, 
and  the  governor  lent"  an  unusual  and  impressive  char 
acter  to  it  by  appearing  and  reading  it  in  person  before 
the  two  houses  in  joint  convention,  a  proceeding  hitherto 
unusual  in  the  state.  Although  taking  over  two  hours 
in  its  presentation,  it  received  profound  attention,  read 
as  it  was  in  the  governor's  impressive  manner.  Of 
strong  literary  form,  there  was  no  mistaking  its  author 
ship  ;  it  was  no  patchwork  nor  product  of  secretaries. 

The  message  contained  a  number  of  striking  depar 
tures  from  previous  papers  of  its  kind,'  the  distinctive 
feature  being  an  able  essay  on  primary  elections,  in- 


STIRRING  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1901  167 

eluding  even  the  advanced  suggestion  of  second  choice 
voting.  Then  there  was  a  discussion  of  railway  taxa 
tion,  a  recommendation  that  women  be  appointed  on 
various  educational  and  charitable  boards  and  that  the 
activities  of  the  lobby  be  curbed  by  legislation.  Al 
though  this  first  message  was  far  less  aggressive  than 
many  he  was  later  to  write,  there  was  no  glossing  over 
of  his  meaning,  and  his  characterization  of  the  ' '  political 
machine,"  of  ' ' tax-dodgers "  and  ''lobbyists"  as  such 
occasioned  comment. 

That  the  legislature  owed  a  responsibility  to  the  people 
and  that  it  was  not  to  escape  a  reminder  of  that  responsi 
bility  was  rather  shrewdly  set  forth  in  this  introduction 
to  his  discussion  of  primary  elections : 

Commissioned  by  the  suffrages  of  the  citizens  of  this  state, 
to  represent  them,  you  will  have  neither  in  the  session  before  you 
nor  in  any  official  responsibility  you  may  assume  a  more  impor 
tant  duty  than  that  of  perfecting  arid  writing  upon  the  statute 
books  of  Wisconsin  a  primary  election  law. 

In  the  meantime  the  legislature  had  been  organized. 
George  H.  Ray  of  LaCrosse  had  been  chosen  speaker  of 
the  assembly.  As  marking  the  last  proceedings  of  its 
kind,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  he  and  the  other  offi 
cers  of  that  body  had  been  chosen  at  a  crowded  caucus 
held  at  the  Park  hotel  and  dominated  and  directed 
largely  by  railroad  lobbyists,  as  in  the  past.  That  the 
railroad  interests  were  to  be  all-powerful  again  was  to 
be  shown  in  the  makeup  of  the  committee.  This  was 
illustrated  in  the  case  of  A.  E.  Hall.  The  formality  of 
asking  members  upon  what  committees  they  desired  ap 
pointment  was  observed  and  Hall  had  requested  the 
chairmanship  of  the  committee  on  assessment  and  col 
lection  of  taxes,  indicating  that  through  such  committee 
if  rightly  constituted  he  hoped  to  be  of  value  to  the  state. 
He  was  given  the  chairmanship  but  with  the  empty 
honor  of  a  majority  of  the  committee  hostile  to  his  ideas. 


168  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

LaFollette's  announcement  that  he  intended  to  read 
his  message  in  person  to  the  legislature  created  a  mild 
sensation  at  the  time  and  provoked  much  curious  inter 
est.  Hitherto  the  brief  and  conventional  messages  trans 
mitted  to  the  legislatures  had  been  read  by  legislative 
clerks  while  the  governors  remained  withdrawn  in  their 
chambered  retreats.  LaFollette's  announcement  there 
fore  startled  the  attention  of  the  state.  It  portended 
an  aggressive  activity  on  the  part  of  the  governor  in 
the  work  of  legislation,  an  assertion  and  assumption  of 
the  right  of  leadership.  This  might  have  been  expected 
in  such  a  character  and  such  a  dynamic  force  as  La 
Follette's. 

The  governor's  office  is  in  the  main  a  clerical  position, 
by  courtesy  made  ornamental.  It  calls  for  no  particular 
application  of  talents,  no  particularly  hard  work,  no  ex 
pert  training  or  high  efficiency,  as  proved  by  the  average 
run  of  governors  throughout  the  country.  To  such  in 
tense  natures  and  teeming  intellects  as  LaFollette  's,  how 
ever,  the  ordinary  routine  of  signing  requisitions  and 
the  commissions  of  notaries  public  could  in  itself  offer 
small  charm  or  receive  serious  attention.  His  concep 
tion  of  the  governor's  position  was  that  the  executive 
should  do  more  than  merely  recommend  legislation ;  that 
he  should  assist  and  direct  it  wherever  possible.  Such 
invasions  and  assumptions  of  the  functions  and  preroga 
tives  of  one  department  by  another  are  theoretically 
wrong  under  our  system  of  government  and  will  always 
be  pointed  out  as  a  grave  menace  by  the  party  or  faction 
opposed  to  such  invading  department  or  official. 

The  warning  so  sounded  is  in  the  main  justified.  Ex 
perience  appears  to  have  concluded  that  in  a  democratic 
form  of  government  such  divisions  of  responsibility  are 
desirable.  Of  course  great  good,  and  little  harm,  may 
come  from  the  overreaching  activities  of  wise  and  altru 
istic  officials;  constitutional  limitations  are  not  meant 


STIRRING  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1901  169 

for  such,  but  for  the  chance  incompetent,  unprincipled 
or  tyrannical  ones,  who  now  and  then  break  into  the 
political  china  shop. 

Lifter  the  firm  demand  in  Governor  LaFollette's  mes 
sage  for  the  passage  of  a  primary  election  law,  the  prac 
tical  politicians  in  the  opposition  saw  that  the  very 
citadel  of  their  power  was  threatened  and  that  political 
wisdom  demanded  immediate  action  in  opposition  to  the 
governor's  policy.  Long  before  the  proposed  measure 
was  introduced  the  primary  election  bill  was  heralded 
as  the  great  issue  of  the  session  and  was  denounced  and 
derided  as  visionary  and  dangerous.  It  was  plain  to  be 
seen  that  a  great  struggle  over  it  was  imminent.  In  the 
meantime  it  soon  became  obvious  that  the  apparent  har 
mony  between  the  opposing  interests  in  the  party  was 
not  of  a  permanent  nature.  Previous  to  the  opening  of 
the  legislature  a  meeting  of  a  dozen  senators  at  Mil 
waukee  gave  rise  to  a  rumor  that  the  senate  was  to  be 
organized  in  opposition  to  the  governor's  program,  and 
on  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  the  press  repeated  this 
storey  A  mysterious  spirit  of  battle  which  appeared  to 
have  slept  through  the  campaign,  also  suddenly  seemed 
to  animate  the  air. 

In  the  stalwart  story  of  the  Wisconsin  revolution, 
written  by  E.  L.  Philipp  and  E.  T.  Wheelock,  this  phe 
nomenon  is  discussed  as  follows: 

As  the  days  passed  it  was  noticed  that  an  air  of  mystery  was 
beginning  to  gather  about  the  capitol  building.  Men  were  called 
to  the  executive  chamber  for  conferences,  it  is  true,  but  they  were 
carefully  selected  from  among  their  fellows,  and  the  consultations 
were  always  behind  closed,  guarded  doors.  They  were  star  cham 
ber  sessions  of  the  most  secret  kind. 

Long  before  any  attempt  was  made  to  organize  a  faction  in 
opposition  to  the  governor  there  was  a  faction  organized  and  dis 
ciplined  to  carry  out  his  program.  His  line  of  battle  was  formed 
to  fight  a  foe  not  yet  in  existence;  his  generals,  aids  and  lieu 
tenants  were  appointed  and  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  their 
duties.  The  atmosphere  of  mystery  that  first  enveloped  the  execu- 


170  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   or   WISCONSIN 

tive  chamber  only,  spread  to  the  entire  capitol — legislative  cham 
bers,  committee  rooms,  corridors,  even  the  cloak  rooms  and  closets. 
There  were  little  gatherings  where  whispered  consultations  were 
held;  there  was  evasion,  suspicion,  secrecy  on  every  hand.  Every 
employe  in  the  statehouse  that  could  be  dragooned  into  the  ranks 
was  made  a  secret  service  agent  in  addition  to  his  regular  clerical 
duties.  Two  men  would  be  talking  in  a  corridor  and  a  third 
would  approach;  instantly  there  would  be  warning  glances  ex 
changed  and  the  two  would  separate,  to  be  seen  a  few  minutes 
later  continuing  the  conversation.  A  true  blue  administration 
supporter  would  shy  at  the  coming  of  an  outsider  as  if  the  in 
truder  were  afflicted  with  a  contagious  disease,  for  the  servant 
of  the  executive  feared  he  would  be  suspected  of  disloyalty  should 
he  be  caught  in  friendly  converse  with  one  not  yet  initiated  into 
the  sacred  arcana  and  possessed  of  the  countersign,  grip  and  pass 
word. 

All  this  may  sound  like  a  childish  fairy  tale  to  one  who  did 
not  go  through  that  experience,  but  it  is  the  bold,  literal  truth, 
nevertheless.  Those  who  visited  the  statehouse  at  Madison  during 
that  memorable  session  either  on  business  or  pleasure  bent,  be 
came  conscious  at  once  of  the  changed  atmosphere,  the  oppressive 
psychic  force  with  which  the  capitol  was  charged,  as  with  an 
electric  current. 

There  is  no  great  exaggeration  in  this  picture,  as  ob 
servers  of  the  period  will  remember,  but  it  suggests  the 
further  fact  that  to  espouse  LaFolletteism  in  the  early 
days  frequently  proved  a  trial  of  men 's  souls.  Too  often 
it  meant  business  reprisal  and  social  ostracism. 

"You  remember,"  said  one  Watertown  man  to  an 
other  later,  "how  we  once  didn't  dare  to  mention  La- 
Follette's  name  without  first  going  out  in  the  alley  or 
looking  around  to  see  if  anyone  was  within  hearing ;  we 
don't  do  that  any  more." 

To  return  to  the  primary  bill,  over  which  the  first 
of  the  two  great  battles  of  the  session  was  waged.  In 
the  form  which  the  administration  desired  it  enacted^ 
the  bill  was  finally  introduced  in  both  houses  on  Janu 
ary  28  by  Assemblyman  E.  Kay  Stevens,  and  by  Sen 
ator  George  P.  Miller,  both  being^members  of  the  com 
mittees  on  privileges  and  elections,  fit  was-  a  compre- 


STIEEING  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1901  171 

hensive  measure,  practically  the  present  primary  law 
of  the  state,  and  at  once  provoked  general  discussion  and 
sharp  divisions. 

All  the  interests  opposed  to  LaFollette  united  to  dis 
credit  and  defeat  the  measure  and  railroad  attorneys 
and  representatives  of  the  federal  "machine"  were 
early  on  hand  to  fight  it.  Even  the  new  Chicago 
editor  of  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  following  its  change 
from  an  independent  to  a  corporation  sheet,  had  not  been 
in  his  chair  a  week  before  he  came  to  Madison  and  at 
tempted  to  awe  LaFollette  and  compel  the  governor 
to  emasculate  the  measure,  failing  in  which  he  returned 
to  Milwaukee  and  wrote  the  first  editorial  of  that  paper 
attacking  LaFollette  and  definitely  committing  that 
sheet  to  a  tory  policy.  Then  the  Sentinel  followed  up 
its  campaign  by  printing  a  series  of  articles  seeking  to 
show  the  failure  of  the  primary  in  Minnesota  and  else 
where. 

So  great  was  the  interest  taken  in  the  measure  that 
the  first  hearing  upon  it  by  the  committee  was  made  a 
great  public  occasion  and  staged  accordingly.  This  was 
held  on  February  12.  A  great  throng,  which  included 
partisans  from  both  sides,  was  present  to  hear  the  argu 
ments. 

Henry  C.  Adams,  dairy  and  food  commissioner,  ap 
peared  as  spokesman  for  the  measure.  James  G.  Mona- 
han,  collector  of  internal  revenue,  spoke  in  opposition. 

Thus  were  typified  the  two  opposing  forces  struggling 
for  the  mastery  of  the  state  party,  the  revolutionists 
under  LaFollette  and  the  intrenched  forces  whose  ulti 
mate  heads  were  the  two  United  States  senators  from 
the  state.  The  arguments  were  ably  presented,  Mr. 
Adams  contending  for  the  primary  principle  on  the 
ground  of  the  abstract  right  of  the  people  to  a  direct 
hand  in  all  nominations,  and  Mr.  Monahan  attacking 


172  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING  or   WISCONSIN 

such  ideas  as  populistic,  unrepublican,   expensive  and 
impractical! 

The  following  day  James  A.  Frear  of  Hudson,  later 
assemblyman,  senator,  and  secretary  of  state,  and  Levi 
H.  Bancroft,  of  Richland  Center,  later  speaker  of  the 
assembly  and  attorney  general,  appeared  in  able  defense 
of  the  bill. 

Then  followed  a  controversy  precipitated  by  the  Mil 
waukee  Sentinel  as  to  whether  or  not  the  republican 
platform  had  read  " demand"  or  "recommend",  with 
reference  to  primary  legislation.  The  Sentinel  asserted 
that  the  platform  as  read  to  the  convention  contained  the 
word  "recommend",  and  that  this  was  changed  to  "de 
mand"  in  the  copies  given  the  press.  Governor  La- 
Follette,  Zeno  M.  Host,  and  others  practically  settled 
this  point  by  declaring  the  original  copy  contained  the 
word  "demand." 

Final  arguments  on  the  bill  were  heard  February  26jj 
when  Henry  Fink  of  Milwaukee,  also  representing  the 
federal  machine  as  revenue  collector,  and  H.  H.  Hayden, 
of  Eau  Claire,  spoke  against  the  bill,  while  H.  W.  Chyno- 
weth  of  Madison  summed  up  the  arguments  in  its  de 
fense. 

In  a  memorable  all-night  session  which  opened  early 
in  the  evening  of  March  19  before  a  crowded  house  fever 
ish  with  anticipation,  the  bill  was  pushed  to  third  read 
ing  in  the  assembly.  After  a  committee  substitute  to 
the  Stevens  bill  had  been  accepted,  E.  A.  Williams  of 
Neenah,  a  stalwart  leader,  moved  a  call  of  tHe  house 
which  carried.  Of  the  five  absentees  several  were  at 
their  homes  and  one  or  two  in  the  city.  Several  at 
tempts  to  raise  the  call  proving  unsuccessful,  the  mem 
bers  could  do  nothing  while  waiting  the  arrival  of  the 
absentees.  The  discreditable  session  that  followed  has 
been  frequently  painted  in  lurid  hues.  Song  and  jest 
and  the  circulating  liquor  bottle  were  features.  To  hold 


STIBRING  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1901  173 

their  forces  in  line  the  outside  stalwart  managers  re 
mained  upon  the  floor  and  became  so  marked  in  their 
activities  that  finally  on  motion  of  one  member,  they, 
with  others,  were  ordered  to  the  lobby  by  the  speaker. 
One  member  who  had  been  in  hiding  in  the  city  was 
finally  brought  in  in  an  intoxicated  condition.  At  4 
o'clock  the  next  morning  Assemblyman  L.  M.  Sturde- 
vant,  a  supporter  of  the  measure,  came  in,  but  so  did 
Assemblyman  P.  G.  Duerwachter,  stalwart,  and  their 
votes  did  not  change  the  situation."  Not  until  Assembly 
man  Price  of  Marinette  county,  who  had  risen  from  a 
sick  bed,  came  in  at  7  o'clock,  was  the  call  raised  and 
the  bill  pushed  to  third  reading,  in  a  chamber  now  re 
sembling  in  appearance  the  proverbial  " hurrah's  nest." 

When  in  session  later,  A.  E.  Hall  moved  to  compel  the 
chairman  on  enrolled  bills  to  report  the  bill  that  day, 
it  again  became  necessary  to  drive  the  stalwart  federal 
lobby  off  the  floor,  which  was  done  on  motion  of  As 
semblyman  David  Evans. 

On  March  22  the  Stevens  bill  passed  the  assembly  by 
a  vote  of  51  to  48  in  a  br41Hant  two-hour  debate  before 
a  crowded  house/  the  speakers  for  the  measure  being 
Messrs.  E.  Ray  Stevens,  Frank  A.  Cady,  and  L.  M. 
Sturdevant,  and  those  against  it  being  Messrs.  M.  M. 
McCabe,  democrat,  and  C.  A.  Silkworth,  Charles  Barker, 
F.  B.  Keene  and  E.  A.  Williams,  republicans. 

[rjie  senate  being  decidedly  anti-LaFollette,  there  was 
little  hope  for  primary  legislation  in  that  body.  After 
long  hibernation  in  committee  the  bill  came  up  for  de 
bate  April  10,  Senator  Miller. leading  the  fight  for  the 
measure  and  Senator  John  M.  Whitehead  the  opposition, 
A  day  or  two  previously  Senator  Henry  Hagemeister 
had  introduced  a  bill  for  the  nomination  of  county  offi 
cers  and  delegates  to  conventions  by  primary  vote.  On 
April  11  the  senate  killed  both  the  Stevens  substitute 
bill  and  the  Miller  bill  and  various  other  amendments, 


174  LAFOLLETTE  JS    WINNING    OF    WISCONSIN 

and  passed  the  Hagemeister  bill  with  a  referendum  clause 
proposed  by  Senator  Kreutzer.  The  assembly  then 
passed  up  to  the  senate  another  bill  much  like  the  Stevens 
bill,  also  with  a  referendum  clause,  but  this  the  senate 
also  killed.  Thereupon  the  assembly  concurred  in  the 
Hagemeister  bill,  Speaker  Ray  and  Assemblyman  E.  J. 
Frost  of  Almond  finally  going  over  to  the  stalwarts  and 
bringing  this  about. 

Governor  LaFollette  promptly  vetoed  the  Hagemeister 
subterfuge.  This  was  expected,  but  the  caustic  and 
powerful  message  that  accompanied  the  veto  was  scarcely 
looked  for.  Of  rare  lucidity,  literary  finish  and  argu 
mentative  power,  this  veto  message  takes  high  rank  in 
that  remarkable  series  of  papers  written  by  LaFollette 
on  primary  elections  and  is  deserving  of  stud}7"  by  stu 
dents  in  disputation. 

"I  cannot,"  said  the  governor,  "divest  myself  of  the 
binding  character  of  my  official  obligation — not  in  any 
narrow  partisan  sense,  but  to  all  the  people  of  the  state — 
which  forbids  my  sharing  in  the  responsibility  of  giving 
them  a  law  which  violates  that  obligation  and  is  mani 
festly  so  framed  as  to  bring  reproach  upon  the  principle, 
even  if  it  were  at  all  possible  to  interpret  or  enforce  it. ' ' 
Thus  was  ended  the  fight  over  primary  elections  at  this 
session. 

The  second  great  fight  of  the  session  was  over  the  so- 
called  railroad  taxation  bill.  Like  the  primary  bill,  this 
also  was  to  be  defeated  and  created  a  burning  issue  for 
the  next  campaign.  The  tremendous  influence  of  the 
railroads  with  past  legislatures  was  to  be  demonstrated 
anew  as  was  the  frailty  of  the  average  legislator  when 
subjected  without  defense  to  the  unprincipled  machina 
tions  and  pressure  of  high-priced  and  able  representa 
tives  of  corporations. 

That  the  railroads  were  not  paying  their  share  of 
taxes  had  been  long  demonstrated  by  A.  R.  Hall,  who  at 


STIKBING  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1901  175 

every  session  since  he  first  came  to  the  assembly  in  1891, 
had  demanded  investigation  and  legislation  and  backed 
up  his  demands  with  formidable  statistics.  The  tax 
commission  in  1899  had  also  reported  that  the  railroads 
were  not  bearing  their  share  of  the  burdens  of  taxation. 
With  the  advent  of  LaFollette  it  was  felt  that  the  issue 
had  to  be  met,  but  again  the  policy  of  playing  for  more 
time,  so  often  successful  in  congress  and  with  legislatures, 
was  successfully  tried.  When  the  bills  for  increasing 
the  railroad  taxes  came  up  in  the  session  of  1899  the  rail 
road  lobbyists  cleverly  diverted  the  threatened  course 
of  legislation  by  seizing  upon  the  bill  making  the  tax 
commission  a  permanent  body.  They  promised  that  if 
such  commission  were  established  and  railway  taxation 
postponed  at  that  session  and  that  if  later  the  commis 
sion  should  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  taxes  of  the 
railway  companies  should  be  increased,  and  should  so 
recommend  to  the  next  legislature,  there  would  be  no 
further  opposition  on  their  part. 

Now  when  the  tax  commission  at  the  opening  of  the 
session  in  1901  declared  that  while  it  felt  justified  in 
confirming  the  first  commission  in  its  view  that  the  rail 
roads  were  not  paying  their  share  of  the  taxes,  but  was 
not  prepared  to  say  that  the  license  fee  system  should 
be  abandoned,  there  was  rejoicing  in  the  railroad  lobby 
camp,  for  a  new  excuse  to  delay  taxation  increase  was 
thus  given.  It  gave  new  opportunity  of  playing  for 
time. 

Nevertheless,  on  January  31,  two  bills  prepared  by  the 
tax  commission  were  introduced  in  each  house  by  As 
semblyman  Hall  and  Senator  Whitehead,  chairman  of 
the  taxation  committees  in  their  respective  houses.  One 
of  these  bills  proposed  an  increase  in  the  license  fees  of 
railroads,  from  four  to  five  and  one-half  per  cent  and 
was  estimated  would  increase  the  railroad  taxes  about 
$600,000  a  year. 


176  LAFOLLETTE  >s  WINNING  OP  WISCONSIN 

The  other  proposed  the  taxation  of  railroad  property 
on  the  advalorem  basis  as  other  property  in  the  state. 
The  tax  commission  had  shown  that  while  the  real  and 
personal  property  of  the  state  were  paying  nearly  seven 
teen  millions  in  taxes  the  railroads  were  paying  less  than 
one  and  a  half  million  and  that  were  the  railroads  put 
on  an  advalorem  basis  as  other  property  they  would  be 
required  to  pay  slightly  over  a  million  a  year  more. 
The  idea  was  to  enact  whichever  bill  the  legislature 
thought  it  more  advisable  after  due  study  and  considera 
tion.  Long  committee  hearings  followed.  The  railroads 
were  represented  by  great  and  high-priced  attorneys, 
while  the  chief  defender  of  the  bills  and  spokesman  for 
the  administration  was  Assemblyman  Hall.  The  railroad 
attorneys  urged  the  killing  of  both  bills,  urging  delay 
because  the  tax  commission  had  not  completed  its  re 
port  and  charging  a  discrepancy  between  the  figures  of 
the  tax  commission  and  those  employed  by  the  governor 
in  his  message.  Hall  constantly  presented  the  unchal 
lenged  figures  of  the  tax  commission  and  thundered  for 
equality  in  taxation.  Soon,  however,  Hall  broke  down 
and  was  unable  to  attend  the  sessions  for  some  weeks. 
In  the  meantime  the  railroad  lobby  was  unceasingly 
active.  It  may  be  sufficient  to  quote  on  this  score  from 
a  public  statement  made  later  by  Assemblyman  Lenroot 
in  which  he  said : 

Members  were  approached  by  representatives  of  the  companies 
and  offered  lucrative  positions.  This  may  not  have  been  done 
with  any  idea  of  influencing  votes.  The  reader  will  draw  his  own 
conclusions.  It  was  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  railroad 
mileage  could  be  procured  if  a  member  was  "right."  Eailroad 
lands  could  be  purchased  very  cheaply  by  members  of  the  legisla 
ture.  It  was  said  if  a  member  would  get  into  a  poker  game  with 
a  lobbyist,  the  member  was  sure  to  win.  Members  opposed  to 
Governor  LaFollette  were  urged  to  vote  against  the  bill,  because 
he  wanted  it  to  pass.  A  prominent  member  stated  that  he  did 
not  dare  to  vote  for  the  bill  because  he  was  at  the  mercy  of  the 
railroad  companies,  and  he  was  afraid  they  would  ruin  his  busi- 


STIRRING  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1901  177 

ness  by  advancing  his  rates,  if  he  voted  for  it.  Such  were  a  few 
of  the  methods  employed  to  defeat  the  bill. 

Before  the  bill  was  reported  it  was  stated  in  the  press 
and  generally  accepted  that  it  would  have  the  support 
of  five  members  of  the  committee  instead  of  only  three 
and  thus  be  favorably  reported.  Had  the  bill  been  re 
ported  when  Chairman  Hall  wished  it  done  such  would 
probably  have  been  the  result,  but  at  the  request  of  a 
representative  of  the  Wisconsin  Central  railroad  Hall 
innocently  and  obligingly  withheld  the  report  for  some 
time  and  in  the  meanwhile  two  of  the  five  members  at 
first  reported  favorable  to  the  bill  changed  their  attitude. 
It  is  said  that  the  influence  of  a  fascinating  woman  was 
an  important  factor  in  the  ultimate  defeat  of  the  meas 
ure. 

This  betrayal  of  Hall's  confidence  was  subsequently 
brought  out  in  extended  newspaper  stories  and  amply 
verified. 

April  10,  Assemblymen  Zinn,  Lane,  Brunson  and 
McCabe  reported  the  license  fee  increase  bill  for  in 
definite  postponement.  A  minority  report  was  presented 
by  Assemblymen  Hall,  Stevens  and  Frost. 

On  April  23,  after  a  debate  in  which  Hall  led  the 
fight  for  the  bill  and  Assemblymen  Rossman,  Orton, 
Williams  and  McCabe  spoke  against  it,  the  bill  was 
killed  by  a  vote  of  39  to  50.  A  number  of  friends  of  the 
bill  voted  against  it  because  they  preferred  the  adva- 
loreni  bill. 

May  2"  was  one  of  the  historic  days  of  this  historic 
session,  ene^S1 which  the  governor  and  the  legislature 
exchanged  heavy  blows  and  when  the  factional  differ 
ences  in  the  republican  party  were  sharpened  and  in 
tensified  to  the  point  that  promised  no  hope  of  recon 
ciliation,  and  making  inevitable  the  decisive  battle  of 
l&M.tlBefore  the  legislative  sessions  opened  that  morn 
ing  Governor  LaFollette  laid  before  each  house  his 

12 


178  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  or  WISCONSIN          .f~~ 

famous  so-called  dog-tax  veto,  promptly  following  which 
~lhe  assembly  killed  the  railroad  advalorem  bill  by  a  vote 
of  45  to  51,  while  the  senate,  on  motion  of  Chairman 
Whitehead,  withdrew  both  the  railway  tax  bills  from 
their  pigeon-hole  slumbers  in  that  body  and  killed  them 
without  debate. 

Thus  the  fight  for  increased  railroad  taxes  ended  again 
in  a  complete  victory  for  the  railroads. 

Of  another  railroad  bill  at  this  session  a  wordfmay 
be  not  amiss.  This  was  the  Hall  railway  commission  bill 
which  the  statesman  from  Dunn  had  repeatedly  intro 
duced  before.  This  was  killed  in  the  assembly  April  24 
by  a  vote  of  74  to  24.  AtSthe  request  of  Governor  La- 
Follette,  Hall  made  no  fight  for  this  measure.  Governor 
LaFollette  believed  it  the  part  of  political  wisdom  to 
avoid  attempting  too  much  at  once,  and^in  the.  campaign 
the  previous  year  had  induced  Hall  to  refrain  from  at 
tempting  to  get  a  railway  commission  plank  into  the 
platform.  "We  must  not  scatter  our  fire,"  he  said. 
"Let  us  first  put  through  our  primary  elections  and 
railway  taxation  bills. ' '  However,  to  be  consistent  with 
his  past  record  Hall  reintroduced  his  railway  commis 
sion  measure  in  1901  and  permitted  it  to  die. 

The  so-called  dog  tax  veto,  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  illustrated  LaFollette 's  keen  sense  of  dramatic 
values.  While  the  legislature  was  temporizing  and 
marking  time  over  the  railway  taxation  measures  a 
rather  insignificant  bill  for  a  license  on  dogs  came  to  his 
desk.  The  governor  seized  the  occasion  to  veto  it  with 
a  scathing  message  upbraiding  the  legislature  for  seek 
ing  to  impose  an  additional  load  upon  the  overburdened 
farmer  by  taxing  his  natural  protector,  yet  was  appar 
ently  willing  to  again  let  the  railroads  withhold  their 
unjust  millions  due  in  taxes.  In  part  he  said : 

No  serious  attempt  has  been  made  by  the  opponents  of  this 
proposed  legislation  (railway  taxation)  to  disprove  the  accuracy 
of  the  figures  which  formed  the  basis  of  the  tax  commission's 


STIBBING  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1901  179 

calculations.  The  best  excuse  or  argument  presented  by  the  advo 
cates  of  delay,  who  thus  favor  imposing  a  still  greater  portion 
of  the  tax  burden  upon  the  property  within  the  state  already 
bearing  an  undue  share,  appears  to  be  the  claim  that  the  corpora 
tions  paying  less  than  their  fair  share  of  taxes  should  not  be  com 
pelled  to  pay  any  more  because  some  kinds  of  personal  property 
escape  the  assessor  altogether.  It  is  a  complete  answer  to  this 
to  say  that  one  citizen  should  not  be  permitted  to  shirk  some  of 
his  obligations  because  his  neighbor  has  succeeded  in  evading  all 
public  duties. 

The  propositions  of  the  tax  commission,  like  its  statistics,  are 
too  plain  and  simple  to  permit  misunderstanding  or  doubt  in  in 
telligent  minds  which  give  them  consideration.  They  cannot  be 
obscured  by  a  selfish  plea  that  property .  which  can  be  reached  by 
the  tax  gatherers  should  be  allowed  to  escape  a  part  of  its  just 
share  of  the  cost  of  government,  at  the  expense  of  property  now 
paying  a  still  greater  share,  until  that  very  uncertain  and  remote 
time  when  campaign  promises  and  legislative  procrastination  con 
joined  will  result  in  bringing  hidden  and  intangible  property 
within  reach  of  the  tax  officers.  Nor  is  it  probable  that  a  ma 
jority  of  the  people  of  Wisconsin  can  be  satisfied  by  framing  ap 
propriation  bills  in  accord  with  the  theory  that  citizens  will  bear 
the  imposition  of  unjust  and  unequal  taxation  so  long  as  the  in 
crease  of  their  burden  is  made  to  appear  to  be  due  to  the  better 
ment  and  support  of  the  public  schools.  When  the  taxpayer  comes 
to  compute  profit  and  loss  it  cannot  change  the  result  because  the 
increase  in  his  taxes,  caused  by  neglect  properly  to  tax  powerful 
corporate  interests,  comes  through  a  bill  making  increased  appro 
priations  for  common  schools.  *  *  * 

For  the  reasons  herein  stated  I  am  unwilling  to  present  to 
the  people  of  this  state,  in  lieu  of  the  legislation  to  equalize  taxa 
tion  which  has  been  promised  to  them,  and  which  they  have  a 
right  to  expect  from  representative  government,  a  scheme,  which, 
in  a  general  way,  may  be  described  as  an  act  to  relieve  the  farmer 
or  city  home-owner  of  a  small  measure  of  increased  tax  upon  his 
realty  by  imposing  a  license  fee  upon  his  dog. 

The  contrast  thus  afforded  in  the  dramatic  balancing 
of  the  great  railway  tax  measure  against  the  dog  license 
bill  drove  home  to  the  common  mind,  as  perhaps  nothing 
else  could  have  done,  the  subserviency  of  the  legislature 
to  the  great  corporations  and  redounded  immensely  to 
the  governor's  advantage.'  The  paragraphers  rejoiced 


180  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

in  it,  although  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel  rather  obtusely 
observed  that,  "it  was  peculiarly  undignified  for  Gov 
ernor  LaFollette  to  have  taken  this  action  upon  so  in 
significant  a  measure  as  the  licensing  of  dogs." 

So  keenly  did  the  thrust  come  home  to  the  senate  that 
Senator  Roehr  promptly  introduced  a  resolution  of  cen 
sure  holding  "that  the  use  of  such  expressions  as  are 
above  specifically  referred  to  transcend  all  bounds  of 
official  propriety  and  constitutional  right.  We  protest, 
therefore,  most  earnestly  as  members  of  the  legislature 
against  the  aspersion  cast  upon  our  official  acts,  upon 
our  personal  motives  and  upon  our  private  characters 
by  the  governor  in  his  message  to  the  legislature." 

One  of  the  longest  and  most  striking  debates  of  the 
session  followed  on  this  resolution  to  censure  the  gov 
ernor.  At  times  the  chamber  seemed  to  rock  with  pas.- 
sion,  while  the  solemnity  with  which  some  members 
semed  to  regard  the  proposed  step  recalled  the  scene, 
said  an  observer,  when  Jeff  Davis  retired  from  the 
United  States  senate  to  cast  his  lot  with  the  confed 
eracy.  However,  -the  resolution  of  censure  was  adopted. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
The  Republican  League  and  Its  Activities. 

GREAT  ORGANIZATION  FORMED  FOR  DEFEAT  OF  LAFOLLETTE — 
HEADQUARTERS  ESTABLISHED  IN  HERMANN  BUILDING,  MILWAUKEE 
— BIG  CHAIN  OF  NEWSPAPERS  SUBSIDIZED  AND  SERVED  FROM 
LEAGUE  OFFICE — PURCHASE  OF  PRESS  EXPOSED  BY  HENRY  E. 

ROETHE  AND  JOHN  J.  HANNAN — GOVERNOR  BECOMES  DANGEROUSLY 

ILL — DECLARES  FIGHT  MUST  Go  ON. 

K  LUSHED  with  victory,  the  stalwart  allies  in  the  legis 
lature  at  the  close  of  the  session  conspired  to  crush  La- 
Pollete  in  the  next  campaign.  Both  primary  elections 
and  railway  taxation  had  to  be  beaten.  If  now  LaFol- 
lette  could  be  defeated  for  reelection,  they  reasoned,  a 
quietus  would  be  put  on  his  agitations.  Confidence  in 
spired  the  opposition.  In  the  administration  campaign 
handbook  of  the  year  following  A.  R.  Hall  said: 

It  was  boastfully  stated  by  a  representative  of  one  of  the  rail 
way  companies  just  after  the  defeat  of  the  railroad  taxation  bills 
at  the  last  session  of  the  legislature,  that  no  bills  had  been  enacted 
into  law  during  the  sixteen  years  last  past  in  the  interest  of  the 
people  when  objected  to  by  the  railroads.  He  spoke  the  truth, 
and  he  ought  to  have  added  that  no  measure,  no  matter  how  dam 
aging  to  the  interests  of  the  people,  failed  to  become  a  law  if 
wanted  by  the  railways. 

Accordingly,  a  meeting  of  the  stalwart  members  of 
the  legislature  was  called  in  Milwaukee  early  in  August 
and  the  formation  of  the  "Republican  League  of  Wis- 
consin"  followed.  In  the  administration  press  this  or 
ganization  took  the  name  of  the  "Eleventh  Floor 
League,"  from  the  fact  that  the  headquarters  were 
opened  on  the  eleventh  floor  of  the  Hermann  building  in 
Milwaukee.  This  was  the  biggest  organized  party  re 
bellion  ever  formed  in  the  state. 

A  characteristic  feature  of  the  initial  meeting  was 


182  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING  or  WISCONSIN 

secrecy.  Perhaps  no  greater  or  more  significant  tribute 
of  respect  was  ever  paid  LaFollette  than  that  accorded 
him  by  the  so-called  ''telephone  convention"  held  in 
Milwaukee  in  June,  1910,  when  several  hundred  stalwart 
"delegates" — elected  by  telephone  and  chiefly  by  one 
leader — -met  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about,  if  pos 
sible,  the  defeat  of  LaFollette  for  reelection  as  United 
States  senator  that  year.  This  was  the  chief,  almost  the 
only  purpose  of  that  convention,  yet  so  conscious  was 
the  gathering  of  the  public  sentiment  in  Wisconsin 
toward  LaFollette  that  neither  in  the  speeches  made  in 
the  convention,  nor  in  the  resolutions  adopted,  was  the 
name  LaFollette  once  mentioned  and  only  in  most  cir 
cuitous  phrase  was  he  attacked. 

Something  like  this  fear  of  the  man  and  the  righteous 
ness  of  his  cause  was  apparently  felt  by  the  members  of 
the  league  at  their  first  meeting  in  1901.  Although  the 
meeting  was  held  in  Pf  ister  's  own  building  and  although 
the  Free  Press  ' '  played  it  up  "  under  big  headlines  and 
twitted  its  contemporary  sorely  over  it,  the  Sentinel 
said  not  a  word  about  it,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  imme 
diately  after  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature  it  had  a 
"  call-to-arms "  editorial  headed  "Where  Do  You 
Stand  ? ' '  Even  United  States  Senator  Quarles,  who  had 
been  one  of  the  speakers  at  the  meeting,  and  given  the 
movement  the  endorsement  of  the  federal  machine,  when 
asked  if  the  organization  would  fight  LaFollette  replied 
with  mock  sincerity :  "No,  that  is  not  the  object ;  LaFol 
lette  is  a  mere  incident."  State  Senator  Roehr  is  re 
ported  to  have  said :  "  It  was  merely  an  informal  meeting 
of  a  lot  of  good  fellows  come  together  to  talk  about  the 
weather,  the  crops  and  other  things."  Senator 
("Long")  Jones  was  more  frank:  "Just  think,"  he 
said,  "it  will  be  a  year  tomorrow  since  Governor  LaFol 
lette  was  nominated  unanimously,  and  think  of  the  meet 
ing  here  today !  Does  it  not  show  a  great  change  among 


THE    REPUBLICAN    LEAGUE    AND    ITS    ACTIVITIES        183 

the  people?     It  will  not  be  that  way  in  the  next  con 
vention.  ' ' 

On  August  18,  1901,  the  league  issued  its  first  mani 
festo,  the  keynote  and  substance  of  which  was  the  fol 
lowing  paragraph :  "As  representatives  of  the  people 
we  view  with  alarm  the  persistent  effort  to  strengthen 
the  executive  at  the  expense  of  the  legislative  depart 
ment  of  the  state." 

This  statement  was  signed  by  eighteen  senators  and 
forty-one  assemblymen,  who  formed  the  nucleus  of  the 
league,  and  included  the  total  stalwart  strength  of  the 
legislature,  and  two  assemblymen  who  had  generally 
voted  with  the  LaFollette  forces.  Senator  W.  G. 
Bissell  of  Lodi,  a  former  ardent  LaFollette  supporter, 
was  made  president,  and  Dan  B.  Starkey,  a  trained  news 
paper  man  of  Milwaukee,  secretary  of  the  league. 

Sumptuous  headquarters  well  stored  with  good  things 
were  opened  and  a  corps  of  newspaper  men,  clerks,  and 
stenographers  installed.  Anti-LaFollette  literature  of 
great  variety  was  sent  broadcast  over  the  state.  In  addi 
tion  an  elaborate  card  index  was  installed  wherein  it 
was  sought  to  list  every  voter  in  the  state  with  complete 
data  concerning  his  political  and  factional  bias,  age, 
religion,  business,  and  general  standing  in  the  com 
munity,  etc.  To  install  this  elaborate  service  a  trained 
expert  was  brought  from  Nebraska  and  paid  $10,000 
according  to  the  Free' Press.  Syndicated  editorials  and 
news  letters  attacking  the  administration  were  furnished 
the  press  free  of  charge  and  a  large  number  of  news 
papers  were  directly  subsidized  in  the  stalwart  cause, 
the  administration  charging  that  the  number  was  over 
two  hundred  and  that  from  $50  to  $1,500  apiece  was 
paid.  It  is  highly  important  that  this  fact  of  the  whole 
sale  purchase  of  the  press  of  the  time  be  known  to  the 
historian  of  the  future  that  he  may  properly  gauge  the 
worth  and  extent  of  the  opposition  to  LaFollette  while 


184  LAFOLLETTE 's  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

browsing  through  files  of  the  period.  The  exposure  by 
Henry  E.  Roethe,  editor  of  the  Fennimore  Times,  of 
attempts  to  buy  up  his  editorial  colunfns,  followed  by 
like  exposures  from  other  independent  editors,  was 
among  the  sensations  of  the  year  following.  These  ex 
posures  were  brought  about  by  John  J.  Hannan,  later 
private  secretary  to  Governor  LaFollette.  Hannan  at 
the  time  was  on  the  staff  of  the  new  Milwaukee  Free 
Press,  which,  ironically  enough,  came  into  possession  of 
much  of  the  equipment  and  furniture  of  the  league  when 
it  broke  up. 

In  this  connection  the  founding  shortly  before  this  of 
the  Milwaukee  Free  Press  should  be  recorded  as  among 
the  events  of  this  period  from  which  flowed  important 
results.  The  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  which  had  for  years 
been  the  chief  republican  organ  of  the  state,  had  been  a 
supporter  of  LaFollette.  By  reprinting  from  an  Indian 
apolis  paper  a  reflection  on  Charles  Pfister,  it  became 
involved  in  a  damage  suit  brought  by  the  big  Milwaukee 
boss.  In  February,  1901,  before  the  case  had  been 
brought  to  trial,  Pfister  had  purchased  the  Sentinel,  dam 
age  suit  and  all,  at  a  great  price,  and  at  once  transformed 
it  into  a  stalwart  organ  and  spokesman  and  apologist 
of  big  interests  generally.  This  created  the  need  of  a 
metropolitan  administration  organ  which  was  met  by 
the  establishment  in  June,  1901,  of  the  Milwaukee  Free 
Press.  Isaac  Stephenson,  the  wealthy  Marinette  lumber 
man  and  politician,  gave  the  new  publication  its  chief 
backing. 

*     #     # 

The  defeat  of  his  measures  in  the  legislature  and  the 
aggressive  following  up  of  this  advantage  by  the  stal 
warts,  made  LaFollette  but  the  more  determined  to  con- 
.,  tinue  his  fight,  and  was  to  give  a  striking  illustration  of 
the  rare  fiber  in  the  man. 

Soon  after  the  legislative  session  ended  he  suffered  a 


THE    REPUBLICAN    LEAGUE    AND    ITS    ACTIVITIES        185 

complete  physical  collapse,  The  great  physical  and 
nervous  strain  of  the  long  session,  with  its  bitter  contro 
versies,  labors  and  anxieties,  he  had  borne  up  under 
through  sheer  power  of  will,  but,  the  strain  of  the  session 
removed,  an  old  stomach  trouble  suddenly  returned  to 
plague  him.. 

In  treating  his  ailment  it  became  necessary  for  his 
physicians  to  resort  to  heroic  remedies.  Every  day,  and 
frequenth'  each  day,  he  was  obliged  to  swallow  a  rubber 
tube  to  have  his  stomach  washed  out  and  to  have  the 
effect  of  various  foods  studied.  For  \veeks  he  was  dan 
gerously  ill  and  there  were  startling  rumors  of  decline, 
and  that  he  was  a  cancer  victim. 

One  night  a  rumor  reached  the  far-off  city  of  Superior 
that  the  governor's  death  was  momentarily  expected.  A 
band  of  his  close  friends  and  supporters  resolved  to  sit 
up  and  await  the  final  sorrowful  news.  So  this,  they 
observed,  was  to  be  the  end  of  LaFollette's  long  fight, 
and,  of  their  own  sacrifices.  They  were  a  sorrowful 
group.  Happily  their  fears  were  not  realized. 

During  this  period  of  illness  a  number  of  the  gov 
ernor's  close  personal  and  political  friends  called  at  the 
executive  residence  to  offer  such  cheer  as  they  might. 
In  a  friendly  way  former  Governor  Hoard  urged  him  to 
conserve  his  health  for  the  sake  of  his  family.  He  said 
it  was  the  opinion  of  the  physicians  that  the  governor 
should  avoid  the  fight  he  contemplated  making  in  the 
next  legislature,  and  admitted  his  own  weariness  and 
discouragements.  When  LaFollette  spoke  he  said  feebly : 

It  has  been  a  hard  fight.  I  do  riot  feel  that  I  have  any  right 
to  call  upon  even  my  closest  friends  to  make  any  further  sacrifices. 
But  with  me  it  is  different.  This  is  the  work  that  I  have  laid  out 
for  myself.  I  have  started  the  fight  and  if  God  spares  my  life,  I 
will  keep  it  up  until  we  win.  The  fight  must  go  on. 

When  the  men  left  the  room  there  were  tears  in  the 
ex-governor's  eyes  as  he  said  to  John  Strange:  "That 


186  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF  WISCONSIN 

man's  courage  and  tenacity  of  purpose  are  sublime. 
Compared  to  him  we  are  cringing  cowards  and  crying 
children. " 

They  passed  out  of  the  room,  seeming  yet,  as  one  of 
them  afterward  related,  to  hear  the  words :  ' '  The  fight 
must  go  on ;  the  fight  must  go  on ! ' ' 


CHAPTER  XIV 
Great  Contest  of  1902. 

EARLY  SPEECH  BY  LAFOLLETTE  BEFORE  FARMERS'  INSTITUTE 
SHOWS  DETERMINATION  TO  ACHIEVE  PRIMARY  EEFORM — STAL 
WARTS  COMPLICATE  ISSUE  BY  CRY  OF  "  RETURN  SPOONER" — 
WHITEHEAD  BROUGHT  OUT  TO  OPPOSE  LAFOLLETTE — GREAT  ACTIV 
ITY  OF  STALWART  LEAGUE — ADMINISTRATION  ACHIEVES  COUP  BY 
HAVING  CONVENTION  SET  FOR  MADISON — LAFOLLETTE  BENOM- 
INATED — CONVENTION  INCIDENTS — QUALIFIED  ENDORSEMENT  OF 
SPOONER — VOTERS'  HANDBOOK  A  NOTABLE  PAMPHLET. 


T 


HE  opening  of  the  year  1902  gave  promise  of  a  des 
perate  factional  struggle.  That  the  opposition  to  LaFol- 
lette  would  spare  no  effort  to  defeat  his  renomination 
was  an  inevitable  corollary  of  the  so-called  "  Eleventh 
Floor"  venture. 

Likewise,  if  any  doubt  existed  of  an  aggressive  cam 
paign  by  LaFollette  it  was  quickly  dispelled  through  a 
speech  made  by  him  before  the  farmers'  institute  at 
Oconomowoc,  March  19  of  that  year.  In  this  significant 
address  Governor  LaFollette  indicated  unmistakably  his 
determination  to  achieve  genuine  primary  reform  and 
uniform  taxation,  saying: 

But  that  the  legislature  failed  to  perform  its  duty  should  not 
be  a  cause  for  discouragement.  It  should  but  quicken  the  interest 
and  make  firmer  the  determination  of  every  citizen  in  the  state. 
There  should  be  no  wavering  and  no  delay.  Equal  and  just  taxa 
tion  must  come.  Selfish  interests  may  resist  every  inch  of  ground; 
may  threaten,  malign,  and  corrupt;  they  cannot  escape  the  final 
issue.  That  which  is  so  plain,  so  simple  and  so  just  will  surely 
triumph. 

Events  moved  rapidly.  In  strategic  brilliancy,  in 
rapidity  of  execution,  in  originality  and  dash,  it  was  a 
sort  of  Marengo  campaign  on  LaFollette 's  part. 

In  February  came  the  exposures  in  the  Milwaukee  Free 
Press  of  the  wholesale  attempt  of  the  stalwart  league  to 


188  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  or  WISCONSIN 

buy  up  the  Wisconsin  press.  This  proved  a  body  blow 
to  the  influence  of  the  league.  A  number  of  high-minded 
editors  who  found  that  they  had  been  imposed  upon 
repudiated  the  league  support,  while  others  not  yet  won 
over,  turned  peremptorily  from  their  doors  the  league 
emissaries  who  later  visited  them. 

One  day  a  stranger  walked  into  the  office  of  the  editor 
of  a  struggling  weekly  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state. 
Introducing  himself  under  an  assumed  name,  he  in 
quired  blandly  relative  to  the  circulation  of  the  paper, 
the  character  of  its  constituency,  etc.,  and  finally  declared 
the  purpose  of  his  visit  was  to  secure  space  for  the  pub 
lication  on  the  editorial  page  each  week  of  certain  polit 
ical  matter  whic^i  would  be  furnished.  Feigning  some  re 
luctance  about  considering  the  proposition  made  him,  the 
editor  succeeded  in  drawing  out  his  mysterious  visitor 
and  getting  a  preliminary  offer  of  a  check  for  $1,000. 
As  he  still  demurred  in  order  that  he  might  extract  addi 
tional  information,  the  offer  was  gradually  raised.  But 
one  after  another  the  propositions  made  him  he  met 
with  evasions  or  refusal. 

"  Would  you  consider  $5,000?"  asked  the  visitor  fin 
ally,  with  a  half -jesting,  half -serious  intonation. 

"No,"  replied  the  now  transformed  genius  of  the 
dingy  sanctum.  "I  recognize  your  true  character  at  last. 
You  are  a  political  scavenger  from  the  Hermann  build 
ing.  I  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  you.  You  have 
insulted  me  beyond  measure,  asking  a  man  to  sell  his 
very  soul.  I  cannot  conceive  how  you  could  stoop  any 
lower.  There  is  the  door!" 

The  visitor  reddened  and  standing  his  ground  said 
threateningly:  "You  have  insulted  me,  calling  me  such 
names  as  you  have,  and  you  shall  answer  to  me  in  court 
for  it!" 

Picking  up  a  heavy  mallet  the  editor  advanced  upon 
his  tempter.  "Clear  out  of  here!"  he  shouted;  "not 


GREAT  CONTEST  OF  1902  189 

another  word;  and  I  further  warn  you  to  never  let  me 
hear  from  you  again." 

The  visitor  rapidly  backed  out  of  the  office  and  the 
editor  heard  no  more  of  him,  but  soon  thereafter  a  rival 
sheet  farther  down  the  street  appeared  in  espousal  of 
the  stalwart  cause.  The  second  editor  approached 
proved  far  more  mild-mannered  and  pliable  than  the 
first  and  let  his  columns  go  for  the  campaign  for  $900. 
So  the  visit  of  the  stalwart  agent  to  the  town  was  not 
fruitless  after  all,  and  he  could  have  but  the  one  regret 
that  fortune  had  not  more  kindly  directed  him  on  his 
first  arrival  there.  But  the  experience  was  all  in  the 
day's  work  of  that  character  and  could  be  expected. 

Historical  completeness  would  require  the  further 
somewhat  curious  record  that  both  of  these  editors  were 
shipwrecked  on  the  rock  of  LaFolletteism.  The  one  who 
sold  himself  out  was  soon  afterwards  repudiated  and 
deserted  by  his  constituency  for  so  doing,  while  the 
other,  who  remained  unpurchaseable,  went  down  through 
his  zeal  for  the  reform  cause,  which  led  him  to  neglect 
his  paper's  interests  until  he  was  overwhelmed  with 
disaster. 

In  a  sketch  of  LaFollette  prepared  that  year  by 
Ernest  N.  Warner  of  Madison  a  comparison  was  sug 
gested  between  LaFollette  and  Hannibal,  the  Cartha 
ginian  general,  who,  abandoned  by  his  plutocratic  nation 
and  cut  off  from  all  supplies  from  home,  raised  an  army 
out  of  the  barbarians  about  him  and  not  only  main 
tained  himself  in  a  hostile  country,  but  for  years  de 
feated  every  army  the  great  empire  of  Rome  sent  against 
him.  The  comparison  was  not  so  far-fetched.  LaFol 
lette  faced  a  most  trying  situation  at  this  period.  A 
powerful  opposing  organization,  backed  by  great  re 
sources  of  money,  had  been  formed  within  his  party; 
his  health  was  seriously  impaired,  and  so  far  from  having 
any  surplus  money  his  organization  had  a  large  debt 
from  the  previous  campaign  to  meet. 


190  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

To  repair  his  health,  the  governor  early  in  the  spring 
took  a  cottage  at  Lake  Kegonsa,  fourteen  miles  from 
Madison,  and  by  horseback  rides  between  that  point  and 
the  capital  recouped  his  strength.  Borrowing  $1,000 
himself,  he  started  a  campaign  fund  with  that  sum, 
while  devoted  friends — some  of  them  quite  poor — 
stretched  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  add  to  it. 

The  campaigning  that  year  was  exceeded  in  sharpness 
only  in  the  great  contest  two  years  later.  In  the  pre- 
convention  campaign  the  administration  side  pressed  the 
issues  of  endorsement  of  Governor  LaFollette,  primary 
elections  and  railway  taxation,  while  the  stalwarts  at 
first  made  their  fight  on  the  personality  of  LaFollette. 
Realizing,  however,  that  this  was  an  unpromising  issue 
alone,  they  created  another  by  demanding  the  re-election 
by  the  next  legislature  of  Senator  John  C.  Spooner. 
When  it  became  apparent  in  1900  that  nothing  could 
stem  the  LaFollette  tide,  Spooner,  in  seeming  fear,  as 
has  been  shown,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  republicans  of 
Wisconsin,  announcing  that  he  would  not  again  be  a 
candidate  for  the  senate.  Then  without  coming  home 
from  Washington  he  bought  a  summer  home  in  New 
Hampshire  and  going  there  remained  away  from  the 
state  until  a  few  days  before  the  end  of  the  campaign. 
Now  by  a  strange  contingency  he  was  again  made  a  can 
didate,  without  his  own  seeking,  not  so  much  that  he 
might  be  returned  to  the  senate  as  that  thereby  LaFol 
lette  might  be  defeated  through  a  new  party  alignment 
which  it  was  hoped  to  create. 

Although  the  administration  side  in  its  handbook  dis 
claimed  opposition  to  Spooner,  the  stalwart  organs 
vigorously  fanned  the  flame  of  a  supposed  feud  between 
the  governor  and  the  senator  and  this  was  undoubtedly 
the  principal  capital  that  yielded  the  stalwarts  results  in 
the  campaign.  The  stalwart  machine  strength  was  cen 
tered  upon  State  Senator  John  M.  Whitehead  of  Janes- 


GREAT  CONTEST  OF  1902  191 

ville,  an  outspoken  foe  of  LaFollette,  who  announced  his 
candidacy  for  the  governorship  as  early  as  February  24. 
To  further  his  candidacy  Whitehead  wrote  a  long  series 
of  heavy  letters,  principally  on  the  subject  of  taxation, 
but  it  is  doubtful  if  they  made  him  any  votes.  Of  these 
letters  the  stalwart  history  of  the  period  says:  "When 
passions  were  at  white  heat  and  no  man  who  took  part 
in  the  campaign  in  any  capacity,  much  less  a  candidate, 
could  escape  personal  abuse,  these  letters  and  the  public 
addresses  later  delivered  by  Senator  Whitehead  were 
anachronisms. ' ' 

The  Milwaukee  Sentinel  and  other  league  papers  had 
early  in  the  year  raised  a  great  cry  to  "  Return  Spooner" 
and  it  early  showed  results.  For  instance,  by  this  slogan, 
coupled  with  quick  action,  the  stalwarts  succeeded  in 
capturing  the  machinery  of  the  republican  club  of  the 
University  of  Wisconsin,  electing  T.  P.  Abel,  of  Kenosha 
president  over  Harry  W.  Adams  of  Black  Earth.  Pros 
pective  candidates  for  the  legislature  were  early  visited 
and  promised  stalwart  support  if  they  would  pledge 
themselves  for  Spooner,  a  move  that  was  successful  in 
many  instances,  in  moderating  the  activities  of  such  can 
didates.  Even  a  number  of  the  big  newspapers  of  the 
state,  who  had  supported  LaFollette,  yielded  to  the 
arguments  of  the  league,  pleading  in  excuse  the  necessity 
of  returning  Spooner.  On  April  26  the  Oshkosh  North 
western,  a  LaFollette  supporter,  began  its  desertion  of 
the  governor  by  an  editorial  headed  * '  Spooner  Should  Be 
Endorsed. M  While  professing  to  favor  the  renomina- 
tion  of  LaFollette,  it  took  the  position  that  it  was  easier 
to  find  gubernatorial  timber  than  another  senator  like 
Spooner.  About  the  same  time  the  Wisconsin  State 
Journal  at  Madison  began  wavering.  Its  new  editor, 
Amos  P.  Wilder,  had  been  a  strong  supporter  of  LaFol 
lette,  but  coming  from  aristocratic  environments  in  the 
east,  he  could  not  stomach  the  LaFollette  practice  of 


192  LAFOLLETTE 'S    WINNING    OF    WISCONSIN 

advancing  to  places  of  power  and  respectability  men 
from  farms  and  small  country  towns.  Declaring  edito 
rially  that  LaFollette  was  surrounded  by  ''men  whose 
characters  are  objectionable  and  whose  qualifications  are 
pitiful,"  he  sought  for  a  time  to  support  the  opposing 
ideals  represented  in  Spooner  and  LaFollette,  but  finally 
went  over  wholly  to  Spooner  and  the  stalwart  cause, 
after  bearing  the  ridicule  of  practically  the  entire  Mil 
waukee  press  for  his  indecision. 

However,  the  "half-breed"  movement,  as  the  LaFol 
lette  cause  now  came  to  be  derisively  called  by  the  opposi 
tion,  was  not  without  its  literary  resources.  Printer's 
ink  had  always  been  a  strong  reliance  with  LaFollette 
and  in  this  campaign  it  took  the  form  of  a  "Voters' 
Handbook."  This  was  a  political  publication  of  144 
closely-written  pages  and  made  its  appearance  about  May 
1.  It  gave  a  history  of  the  legislative  session  of  the  year 
before,  roll  calls  on  all  important  measures,  the  story 
of  the  Republican  League,  and  a  mass  of  other  political 
history  and  argument  from  the  administration  point  of 
view.  For  historical  completeness  and  literary  effective 
ness,  it  is  the  high  water  mark  of  individual  political 
pamphlets  in  Wisconsin,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  it  greatly 
influenced  results  in  the  compaign.  Aside  from  con 
tributions  from  Assemblymen  Hall,  Lenroot  and  David 
Evans,  Jr.,  it  was  largely  the  work  of  LaFollette  himself, 
his  private  secretary,  Col.  Jerre  C.  Murphy,  and  John 
J.  Hannan.  The  expenses  of  its  publication  and  dis 
tribution  were  met  by  about  twenty-five  of  LaFollette 's 
most  prominent  supporters  throughout  the  state. 

Copies  were  sent  to  almost  every  voter  in  the  state. 

.  ,     Various  circular  letters  were  also  sent  out.     One  issued 

EL^  from  a  Madison  law  office  June  25  contained  in  part  this 

\  startling  language,  indicative  of  the  lengths  to  which 

the  contest  was  being  waged : 

"The  events   which   occurred   here  a  few   days   ago 


GREAT  CONTEST  OF  1902  193 

should  serve  as  a  warning  to  the  entire  state.  The 
Bolters'  league  spent  thousands  of  dollars  of  corporation 
money  in  Dane  county  in  an  effort  to  carry  the  caucuses. 
League  supporters  have  boasted  that  $25,000  of  this 
money  was  used  in  the  city  of  Madison  alone.  Tickets 
folded  with  $10  bills  were  covertly  passed  to  voters  by 
workers  with  the  request  to  vote  the  one  and  pocket  the 
other  and  say  nothing.  This  work  while  done  with  a 
certain  degree  of  caution  covered  so  large  a  field  as  to 
lead  to  frequent  rejection  and  discovery." 

The  reform  cause  also  had  able  pamphleteers  and 
volunteer  contributors  who  championed  it  on  high  ethical 
grounds.  Among  such  was  Theron  W.  Haight  of 
Waukesha,  whose  writings  were  notable  for  their  power 
and  literary  finish. 

One  of  the  sensational  incidents  of  the  early  part  of 
the  campaign  and  productive  of  many  long  newspaper 
stories  was  the  break  between  Congressman  H.  B.  Dahle 
of  Mt.  Horeb  and  Governor  LaFollette. 

While  LaFollette  was  making  his  various  campaigns 
for  the  governorship  several  shrewd  and  desperate  at 
tempts  were  made  to  carry  Dane  county  against  him  in 
order  that  through  repudiation  at  home  he  might  be 
weakened  in  the  eyes  of  the  state.  To  effect  this  end 
the  Norwegian  nationality,  which  was  strong  in  the 
county,  was  drawn  upon  for  stalking  horses,  and  in  this 
manner  a  number  of  bitter  opponents  were  raised  up 
who  proved  to  be  thorns  in  the  side  of  LaFollette,  until 
he  had  grown  beyond  their  power  of  effective  injury. 
Thus  in  1898,  John  L.  Erdall,  a  brilliant  young  Nor 
wegian  lawyer  of  Madison  who  held  the  position  of  as 
sistant  attorney  general,  became  a  candidate  for  attorney 
general.  His  announcement  brought  about  an  embar 
rassing  situation  when  LaFollette  later  decided  to  enter 
the  field  for  governor,  as,  naturally,  no  state  convention 
could  be  expected  to  put  two  men  from  the  same  county 

13 


194  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

on  the  ticket.  One  or  the  other  would  have  to  give  way. 
Mr.  Erdall  chose  to  stay  in  the  field,  however,  and  went 
down  to  defeat,  the  county  convention  electing  LaFol- 
lette  delegates  to  the  state  convention  and  turning  down 
the  proposed  list  of  delegates  for  Erdall,  who  thus  failed 
of  nomination.  Soon  afterward  Erdall  left  the  state  to 
enter  the  service  of  a  great  corporation,  thus  closing  the 
door  on  what  his  friends  believed,  and  still  believe,  he 
could  have  commanded  in  the  state,  a  brilliant  profes 
sional  and  political  future. 

This  scheme  to  take  the  county  from  under  LaPollette 
by  pressing  another  local  candidate  for  the  state  ticket 
was  again  tried  in  1902  when  Nels  Holman  of  Deerfield 
was  brought  out  for  secretary  of  state.  Holman  was 
of  Norwegian  descent,  editor  of  the  Deerfield  News,  and 
through  long  and  conspicuous  service  on  the  county 
board  had  built  up  a  wide  acquaintance  and  influence 
in  the  county.  He  also  was  to  meet  with  disaster  on  the 
test  of  strength  with  LaFollette  at  the  county  convention. 
From  having  been  an  early  supporter,  Holman  thus  be 
came  a  bitter  enemy  of  the  governor  and  waged  relent 
less  war  on  him  thereafter,  and  occasionally  carried  his 
town  against  him. 

Another  Norwegian  of  some  influence  in  the  count} 
who  also  became  arrayed  against  the  governor  this  yeai 
was  Torger  G.  Thompson  of  Cambridge.  Thompson  was 
a  wealthy  land  owner  who  had  served  a  term  in  the  as 
sembly  and  who,  while  friendly  to  LaFollette  in  the 
beginning,  soon  became  a  violent  opponent  of  the  gov 
ernor.  In  1904  he  was  brought  out  as  a  candidate  for 
state  senator,  but  failed  of  nomination. 

By  clever  manipulation,  aided  by  certain  misunder 
standings,  the  same  forces  brought  about  an  estrange 
ment  between  the  governor  and  Congressman  Dahle,  a 
hitherto  lifelong  friend  and  supporter  of  LaFollette, 
after  Dahle  had  served  two  terms  in  congress.  It  was 


GREAT  CONTEST  OF  1902 


195 


STATE    OFFICERS,    1903-07 

1 — Robert  M.  LaFollette,  Governor.  2 — James  O 
Davidson,  Lieutenant  Governor.  3 — Walter  L  Houser' 
Secretary  of  State.  4— John  J.  Kempf,  State  Treas 
urer  5— C.  P.  Gary,  State  Superintendent.  6— L.  M. 
Sturdevant,  Attorney  General.  7— John  W.  Thomas. 
Railroad  Commissioner.  8 — Zeno  M.  Host,  Insurance 
Commissioner. 


196  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF  WISCONSIN 

one  of  the  regrettable  incidents  of  this  eventful  period,  a 
political  tragedy  that  terminated  the  public  career  of  the 
congressman  and  left  many  ranklings  behind. 

It  were  a  gross  injustice  to  attribute  ulterior  or  un 
worthy  motives  to  all  the  so-called  stalwarts.  As  is  the 
case  over -all  issues  and  regarding  all  forceful  men,  there 
were  honest  differences  of  opinion.  Many  stalwarts 
were  more  honest  and  better  patriots  than  many  in  the 
camp  of  reform;  many  opposed  the  governor  because 
they  did  not  know  the  man,  misunderstood  him  or 
were  misled  regarding  him.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that 
where  LaFollette  is  best  known  he  has  always  been 
firmly  rooted  in  the  confidence  of  the  people  and  that 
in  the  campaign  of  1902  and  again  in  that  of  1904  the 
counties  that  he  visited  came  over,  as  a  rule,  to  his  sup 
port,  while  those  that  he  left  out  of  his  circuit  frequently 
showed  indifferent  or  hostile  returns.  Many  also  wearied 
of  the  long  fight ;  many  of  hearing  Aristides  called  just. 
A  large  class  was  actuated  in  its  opposition  by  petty  and 
sordid  personal  interests,  while  many  of  the  older  voters 
who  believed  in  the  fetich  of  party  loyalty  through  good 
or  evil  report — whose  vision  was  retrospective — frowned 
upon  the  departures  which  threatened  to  disrupt  and 
divide  the  grand  old  party.  The  active  and  interested 
opposition  came,  however,  from  the  big  corporations  who 
saw  in  LaFollette 's  ascendency  a  menace  to  the  con 
tinuation  of  their  privileges,  and  from  the  old  wheel 
horses  of  the  party,  the  governmental  agents  of  these 
.interests,  who  also  foresaw  their  tenures  of  office  and 
privileges  in  jeopardy.  Upon  all  these  previously  named 
elements — the  indifferent,  the  unknowing,  the  wavering, 
the  mercenary — the  big  interests  played  with  all  the 
cunning  that  ingenuity  could  devise  and  all  the  power 
that  wealth  could  command. 

Illustrative  of  the  sharp  practices  referred  to  was  an 
incident  from  the  far  northern  part  of  the  state.     It  was 


GREAT  CONTEST  OF  1902  197 

highly  important  that  a  certain  ward  of  a  city  be  carried 
by  the  LaFollette  forces,  as  with  the  carrying  of  this 
ward  went  the  vote  of  the  whole  county.  This  ward  was 
controlled  by  a  saloonkeeper  in  whose  resort  centered  all 
the  disreputable  interests  of  the  city.  To  secure  the 
ward  political  sagacity  demanded  the  winning  over  of 
this  northern  Hinky  Dink. 

Two  LaFollette  workers,  both  of  whom  have  since 
become  more  or  less  prominent  in  state  and  national 
affairs,  accordingly  went  to  his  resort  one  Sunday  after 
noon.  Waiving  the  proffered  drinks  which  the  some 
what  surprised  saloonkeeper  sent  spinning  before  them, 
they  accepted  cigars  and  in  due  season  broached  their 
proposition  of  a  "political  trade." 

"If  you'll  deliver  the  ward  to  us,  and  we  win,  you 
can  have  the  naming  of  the  next  inspector  of  the  dis 
trict, "  said  one. 

"Well,"  replied  the  flattered  boss  slowly,  "I  kin 
deliver  the  ward,  and  I  spose  yer  word  is  good." 

"You  can  depend  upon  it." 

Agreed.     More  cigars  and  exit  emissaries. 

The  ward  was  duly  delivered  and  the  county  carried. 
Later,  by  the  way,  when  LaFollette  had  been  nominated, 
elected  and  inaugurated  the  same  emissaries  presented 
themselves  before  the  resort  keeper  to  observe  their  part 
of  the  pact.  Stroking  his  ruddy  jaw,  the  rotund  boss 
observed  with  a  twinkle:  "Yez  said  I  might  have  the 
naming  of  the  next  inspector.  Well,  I  think  I'll  take 
the  job  myself." 

The  emissaries  nearly  wilted  at  this  unexpected  de 
velopment,  but  the  bargain  was  a  bargain,  they  declared, 
and  should  be  kept.  The  saloon  man  was  duly  appointed. 
But  it  was  the  last  pact  made  with  him ;  no  further  polit 
ical  relations  with  him  were  maintained.  Failing  of 
reappointment,  he  sought  in  the  following  election  to 
swing  his  ward  against  LaFollette,  but  did  not  succeed. 


198  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

LaFollette  now  had  the  county  and  his  grip  upon  it  has 
remained  unshaken  since. 

There  were  phases  of  the  preliminary  skirmishing  of 
a  lighter  nature.  One  of  the  charges  brought  against 
LaFollette  was  that  he  had  proved  himself  unfriendly 
to  the  old  soldiers  by  letting  out  a  number  (5  veterans 
who  had  positions  in  the  capitol  under  Governor  Scofield, 
whereupon  M.  J.  Rawson,  a  LaFollette  soldier  appointee, 
issued  a  letter  showing  that  at  the  close  of  Scofield 's 
administration  there  were  thirty-nine  old  soldiers  in  and 
around  the  capitol  with  an  annual  pay  roll  of  $42,760, 
while  in  1902  there  were  forty  on  the  list  with  a  pay  roll 
of  $45,416,  thus  showing  a  close  shave  in  LaFollette 's 
favor. 

However,  LaFollette  was  not  fortunate  in  his  relations, 
on  the  whole,  with  the  old  soldiers.  In  every  section  of 
the  state  they  were  found  among  his  most  bitter  oppo 
nents,  although  no  one  had  been  more  energetic  and  suc 
cessful  in  securing  pensions  for  his  veteran  constituents 
than  LaFollette  while  a  member  of  congress.  This  an 
tipathy  finds  its  explanation  largely  in  the  natural  resis 
tance  of  an  older  order  to  a  new,  the  natural  jealousies 
of  age  at  the  aspirations  and  reforming  tendencies  of 
youth.  The  vision  of  the  veteran  became  more  and  more 
retrospective  as  the  great  episode  in  his  life  receded, 
and  he  sometimes  forgot  that  this  was  now  an  episode 
of  the  past  and  its  issues  no  longer  important  factors  in 
the  shaping  of  the  future,  in  short  that  the  world  was 
going  forward.  Up  to  the  closing  years  of  the  last  cen- 
"•'tury  the  old  soldier  vote  was  the  big  element  to  which 
The  republican  party  made  appeal.  When  finally  this 
dwindling  element  lost  its  great  importance  as  a  voting 
asset  shrewd  politicians  saw  the  practical  wisdom  of 
bidding  for  the  support  of  the  rising  generation.  The 
new  movement  typified  by  LaFollette  turned  from  the 
sentimental  past  to  the  teeming  future  and  it  should 


GREAT  CONTEST  OF  1902 


199 


A\R.     LA     FOLLETTE'S     STRONGEST     CARD. 


A  Famous  LaFollette  Cartoon,  Chicago  Tribune,  1911 

occasion  no  wonder  that  many  who  had  worn  the  blue 
found  it  difficult  to  reverse  their  mental  processes. 

Also  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel  criticized  the  governor  for 
not  attending  the  Norwegian  celebration  at  Eau  Claire,    V 
May  17,  although  it  had  frequently  charged  him  with 
demagogic  attempts  to  strengthen  himself  with  the  na 
tionality. 

In  the  meantime  organization  by  both  sides  was  going 


200  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

rapidly  forward  and  sharp  caucus  battles  were  beginning 
in  the  counties.  The  stalwart  league  was  particularly 
active  from  its  Milwaukee  headquarters. 

But  a  shrewd  tactical  move  conceived  by  LaFollette 
and  utterly  unexpected  by  the  opposition  was  to  make 
the  physical  position  of  the  league  of  little  strategic 
value.  This  was  the  taking  of  the  state  convention  away 
from  Milwaukee.  The  stalwart  headquarters  were  in 
Milwaukee ;  they  had  been  established  there  at  great 
expense ;  there  was  to  be  the  battlefield  of  the  campaign ; 
there  were  massed  all  the  interests  and  all  the  influences 
opposed  to  LaFollette ;  all  the  plans  and  thoughts  of  the 
opposition  leaders  revolved  in  blissful  serenity  around 
the  idea  that  things  were  fixed  there.  When  therefore  a 
story  appeared  in  the  newspapers  of  April  22  that  the 
state  central  committee  was  considering  holding  the 
state  convention  in  Madison  the  stalwart  press  raised 
indignant  protest. 

Ever  since  1884  the  state  conventions  had  been  held 
at  Milwaukee,  but  remembering  the  questionable  "prac 
tices  that  had  characterized  many  of  them  and  his  own 
disastrous  experience  in  1896,  LaFollette  resolved  when 
he  had  a  state  central  crmmittee  of  his  own  mind  to 
remove  the  convention  from  the  corrupting  atmosphere 
of  a  great  city  to  a  place  where  the  delegates  could  the 
more  freely  represent  the  wishes  of  the  people  and  be 
less  beset  by  temptations  and  the  harassings  of  unprin 
cipled  agents.  It  was  a  political  stroke  worthy  the 
genius  and  audacity  of  LaFollette  and  when  first  an 
nounced  created  consternation  in  the  ranks  of  the  old 
wheelhorses  of  the  party,  who  were  accustomed  to  doing 
things  in  the  Milwaukee  way.  Why,  it  was  an  affront 
to  the  big  men  of  the  party  and  a  reflection  on  their 
methods,  they  declared.  The  convention  belonged  to  Mil 
waukee  by  every  right  of  usage  and  precedent.  Mil 
waukee  was  the  recognized  political  capital  of  the  state : 


GREAT  CONTEST  OF  1902  201 

here  lived  most  of  the  "big  fellows"  who  had  grown 
gray  in  its  service.  It  was  the  only  place  where  the 
delegates  could  be  fittingly  entertained  and  given  a  good 
time.  Why  change  the  old  order  of  things  and  trundle 
the  whole  machinery  over  to  Madison  ?  It  was  a  sinister 
scheme  of  the  governor 's,  they  declared,  to  keep  the  con 
vention  more  easily  in  hand  for  his  own  manipulation 
and  to  entrench  himself  the  more  securely.  Candor  com 
pels  the  admission  that  there  was  no  doubt  about  this,  but 
the  higher  moral  ground  on  which  the  governor  urged 
the  change — the  greater  safeguarding  of  the  delegates 
from  the  corrupting  influences,  open  and  insidious,  of  a 
great  city — could  not  be  assailed  and  this  argument 
outweighed  the  charge  of  self-seeking.  So  the  scene,  was 
transferred  from  the  environment  of  palm  gardens  and 
tinkling  cut  glass  to  the  pure  atmosphere  and  classic 
shades  of  a  university. 

Nevertheless,  when  the  state  central  committee  voted 
on  May  20  to  hold  the  convention  in  Madison,  the  Mil 
waukee  Sentinel  pronounced  it  a  "colossal  blunder." 
The  convention  opened  at  the  university  gymnasium 
July  16.  Some  idea  of  the  importance  the  press  attached 
to  it  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  the  Milwaukee 
Sentinel  transferred  its  headquarters  and  practically  its 
entire  editorial  force,  bag  and  baggage,  to  Madison.  Not 
only  did  Charles  Pfister,  its  owner,  and  his  business 
manager  come,  but  M.  C.  Douglas,  the  managing  editor ; 
John  Poppendieck,  city  editor;  Gil.  Vandercook  and 
Sumner  Curtis,  special  writers;  and  several  other  re 
porters,  a  staff  of  artists  and  photographers,  a  brigade 
of  uniformed  messengers  and  newsboys  and  a  brass  band 
of  twenty  pieces.  This  was  the  time  when  under  its 
new  millionaire  management  the  Sentinel  was  pouring 
out  money  like  water  to  advertise  itself  and  stem  the 
tide  of  loss  in  subscriptions  and  prestige  it  was  experienc 
ing  through  advocating  an  unpopular  cause.  Barns, 


202  L.VFOLLETTE  's     WlNNINU     OF     WISCONSIN 

factory  walls,  fences,  and  billboards  even  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  it  is  said,  blazoned  its  name  and  self -vaunted 
fame  in  great  and  lurid  capitals.  On  this  occasion  spe 
cial  headquarters  were  engaged  at  Madison  with  private 
telegraphic  and  telephone  equipment  for  facilitating  the 
handling  of  the  ocean  of  copy  that  its  industrious  staff 
piled  up.  Even  the  heads  of  the  stories  were  written  in 
Madison  and  telephoned  to  Milwaukee.  While  this  was 
on,  uniformed  newsies  of  stentorian  lung  cried  up  the 
startled  town,  the  band  paraded  the  streets  or  gave  con 
certs  from  a  stand  of  its  own  erected  in  the  capitol 
park  and  a  force  of  other  employes  kept  sending  up 
kites  over  the  city  and  lakes  advertising  the  paper. 
Altogether  it  was  the  most  remarkable  bat  of  newspaper 
enterprise  ever  attempted  in  the  state.  One  injunction 
only  was  impressed  upon  the  reporters  by  Managing 
Editor  Douglas— "  Don 't  knock  LaPollette  or  the  city 
of  Madison  while  we  are  there." 

It  was  a  stirring  and  memorable  convention  with  Levi 
H.  Bancroft  of  Kichland  Center  acting  as  permanent 
chairman.  Fiery  speeches  were  features  of  the  occa 
sion.  Completely  overwhelmed  in  the  matter  of  dele 
gates,  the  stalwarts  abandoned  everything  else  in  a  su 
preme  effort  to  get  an  unqualified  endorsement  for 
Spooner.  Compelled  to  meet  the  Spooner  issue,  the  ad 
ministration  accepted  a  tribute  to  the  distinguished 
senator  and  then  added  an  amendment  expressing  the 
hope  that  he  would  find  his  way  clear  to  share  the  views 
of  the  party,  in  the  event  of  which  none  should  be  more 
highly  honored.  The  platform  committee  even  ' '  rubbed 
it  in,"  as  was  said  at  the  time,  by  referring  to  Spooner 's 
"announced  determination"  not  to  serve  the  state  again 
in  the  senate.  This  plank  proved  gall  and  wormwood 
to  the  stalwarts  and  in  the  heat  of  the  controversy  helped 
to  alienate  many  well-meaning  voters  hitherto  friendly 
to  the  administration.  But  it  was  deemed  imperative, 


GREAT  CONTEST  OF  1902  203 

in  view  of  past  history.  In  a  letter  published  August  31 
that  year  Governor  LaFollette  said,  referring  to  the 
fight  everywhere  made  on  him  in  the  name  of  Spooner, 
and  the  defeat  of  his  legislation  through  the  activity  of 
Spooner  appointees : 

For  these  reasons  the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  conven 
tion  felt  that  if  the  United  States  senatorship  were  in  any  way 
made  part  of  the  platform,  it  must  be  so  done  as  not  to  be  subject 
to  the  construction  that  it  was  an  approval  of  what  had  been  at 
tempted  and  accomplished  in  the  name  of  a  United  States  senator. 

Another  embarrassing  situation  was  narrowly  averted 
at  the  convention  in  connection  with  the  so-called  scandal 
involving  the  state  central  committee  and  the  independ 
ent  book  companies.  It  had  come  to  the  ears  of  former 
Speaker  George  A.  Buckstaff  of  Oshkosh  that  a  sum  of 
$2,000  had  been  contributed  to  the  state  central  com 
mittee  by  independent  book  companies  on  condition  that 
L.  D.  Harvey,  superintendent  of  public  instruction, 
should  not  again  be  made  a  candidate.  Harvey  was 
stalwart  in  sympathy,  was  serving  his  second  term  and 
was  slated  by  the  administration  leaders  for  retirement. 
However,  the  stalwarts  continued  him  in  the  field.  He 
was  charged  by  the  independent  companies  with  having 
been  over-friendly  to  the  book  trust  and  the  independent 
companies  were  active  in  opposing  him. 

It  was  reported  to  the  administration  leaders  that 
Buckstaff  was  going  to  urge  the  renominatioii  of  Harvey 
at  the  convention  and  to  flaunt  to  the  world  his  alleged 
discovery  of  the  use  of  money  to  defeat  him. 

Accordingly,  it  was  arranged  that  when  Rock  county 
should  be  announced  in  the  roll  call  L.  E.  Gettle  of  that 
county  should  place  in  nomination  Charles  P.  Gary  of 
Delavan  and  thus  forestall  Buckstaff,  as  Winnebago 
county  would  not  be  reached  in  the  roll  call  until  later. 

Gettle  was  told  by  Henry  F.  Cochems  and  others  to 
"make  it  strong"  and  to  assert  that  a  conspiracy  was  on 
foot  to  beat  Gary  and  to  blacken  his  character  by  un- 


204  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

justly  connecting  him  with  the  book  money  charges. 
Gettle  had  the  voice  of  a  Bashan  bull,  and  roared  accord 
ingly,  to  permit  such  figure,  and  the  convention  gave 
him  such  vociferous  pre-arranged  applause  that  when 
Buckstaff's  turn  came  he  did  not  dare,  or  did  not  choose, 
to  make  the  charges  he  was  supposed  to  be  treasuring  up. 

In  the  meantime  another  interesting  byplay  was  in 
progress.  It  was  felt  that  to  beat  Harvey  it  would  be 
necessary  to  concentrate  the  administration  vote.  There 
were  two  candidates  supported  by  the  administration 
delegates,  Mr.  Gary  and  0.  J.  Schuster.  While  events 
were  hurrying  toward  a  vote  Henry  F.  Cochems,  en 
tirely  on  his  own  responsibility,  rushed  over  to  Schuster 
and  dragging  the  latter  behind  one  of  the  arches  of  the 
gymnasium  said : 

"You  must  release  your  delegates;  we  can't  afford  to 
divide  our  strength.  And  you  must  do  it  right  now. 
We'll  take  care  of  you  afterwards." 

Schuster  gave  the  word  and  Gary  was  nominated. 

There  were  also  lighter  features  to  relieve  the  situation. 
Former  Governor  W.  D.  Hoard  was  the  only  LaFollette 
delegate  from  Jefferson  county  and  when  this  county 
was  called  on  for  nomination,  he  rose  and  said:  "On 
behalf  of  the  one  LaFollette  delegate  from  Jefferson 
county,  I  desire  to  second  his  renomination."  Also 
when  E.  L.  Philipp  of  Milwaukee,  who  had  fought  La 
Follette  hard,  was  named  by  Chairman  Bancroft  on  the 
committee  to  notify  Governor  LaFollette  of  his  renomi 
nation,  there  was  a  general  laugh.  Philipp  reddened  and 
began  perspiring  violently,  whereupon  a  neighboring 
delegate  fanned  him  vigorously  with  a  Sentinel  "keep- 
cool"  palm-leaf  until  it  was  time  for  him  to  go  and  find 
the  governor. 

Governor  LaFollette 's  name  was  presented  to  the  con 
vention  by  his  friend,  H.  W.  Chynoweth,  of  Madison. 
He  was  renominated  on  the  first  ballot  by  a  vote  of 


206  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

790  to  266  for  Whitehead.  Edward  Scofield  received 
five  votes  and  W.  H.  Proehlich  three.  The  other  nomi 
nees  on  the  ticket  were  :  For  lieutenant  governor,  James 
0.  Davidson ;  secretary  of  state,  Walter  L.  Houser ;  treas 
urer,  John  J.  Kempf ;  attorney  general,  L.  M.  Sturde- 
vant;  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  Charles  P. 
Gary;  railroad  commissioner,  John  W.  Thomas;  com 
missioner  of  insurance,  Zeno  M.  Host. 

The  platform  denounced  the  federal  office-holding 
lobby  and  called  for  the  enactment  of  the  bills  defeated 
in  the  last  session  of  the  legislature.  A  reminder  of 
broken  pledges  was  given  the  stalwart  league  legislators 
in  the  cold,  brief  sentence,  "We  adopt  the  last  republican 
state  platform  and  reaffirm  its  principles." 

When  Governor  LaFollette  accompanied  by  the  com 
mittee  on  notification  pressed  through  the  throng  of 
newspaper  men  at  the  front  and  mounted  the  platform 
to  accept  the  nomination,  a  memorable  scene  was  pre 
sented.  In  the  sweltering  heat  a  large  number  of  the 
delegates  and  spectators  had  doffed  their  coats  and  had 
further  resorted  to  fans  to  keep  cool.  Many  had  rolled 
up  their  sleeves  and  thrown  open  their  shirt  fronts. 

On  the  appearance  of  the  governor  a  tremendous  shout 
went  up,  with  thousands  of  coats,  hats,  fans  and  news 
papers  flying  through  the  air,  while  hundreds  of  spec 
tators  climbed  upon  their  chairs  and  gave  vent  to  their 
feelings  in  prolonged  cheers.  As  for  LaFollette,  it  was 
the  greatest  moment  of  triumph,  so  far,  in  his  stormy 
career.  No  other  contest  had  approached  this  one  in 
intensity,  none  called  for  greater  resolution  or  more 
heroic  leadership.  Not  only  had  he  been  forced  to  face 
the  powerful  party  rebellion  set  in  motion  by  the  Repub 
lican  League,  but  likewise  the  cleverly-projected  issue 
over  Spoon er,  then  so  powerful  a  name  with  which  to 
conjure.  But  he  had  risen  unfalteringly  to  the  occasion. 
He  had  stood  uncompromisingly  for  his  principles  and 


GREAT  CONTEST  OF  1902  207 

victory  had  crowned  his  courage.  This  was  his  supreme 
moment. 

Now  as  he  appeared  upon  the  platform  there  was  an 
aspect  of  resolution  akin  to  fierceness  in  his  look.  His 
face  seemed  pale  and  caredrawn.  He  satisfied  the  con 
ception  of  the  dictator  come  panting  from  the  final  blow 
in  the  field.  Beginning  in  a  cold  and  measured  voice, 
he  soon  shifted  to  the  varied  stops  of  the  accomplished 
orator  and  spoke  with  masterly  effect  and  inspiration 
till  the  veins  on  his  neck  and  brow  stood  out  like, whip 
cords.  Yet  there  was  no  word  or  note  of  revenge'in  his 
address.  On  the  contrary,  he  said  in  closing: 

Gentlemen,  the  contest  through  which  we  have  just  passed 
strengthens  the  pillars  of  government  by  the  people  and  for  the 
people.  It  teaches  the  sacredness  of  public  obligation.  It  elevates 
moral  standards  in  public  life. 

These  are  lessons  which  we  should  cherish.  Let  all  else  of  this 
contest  be  forgotten.  It  does  not  signify  who  began  it  or  why  it 
was  begun.  It  has  been  decided.  Let  that  suffice.  I  do  not 
treasure  one  personal  injury  nor  lodge  in  memory  one  personal 
insult.  With  individuals  I  have  no  quarrel  and  will  have  none. 
The  span  of  my  life  is  too  short  for  that.  But  so  much  as  it 
pleases  God  to  spare  unto  me  I  shall  give,  whether  in  public  service 
or  out  of  it,  to  the  contest  for  good  government. 

Then  as  he  concluded  there  was  the  touching  human 
descent  as  stepping  back  amid  the  tumult  he  kissed  his 
daughter,  patted  his  little  sons  on  the  head  and  took  the 
hand  of  his  wife. 

The  pitiful  lack  of  leadership  in  the  stalwart  ranks 
as  contrasted  with  the  administration  organization  and 
as  exemplified  in  the  outcome  of  this  convention  led  to 
the  following  editorial  observation  by  the  Wisconsin 
State  Journal: 

NEW    ERA    IN    WISCONSIN    POLITICS. 

A  new  era  in  Wisconsin  politics  is  here.  The  men  in  town 
today — young,  earnest,  enthusiastic — are  the  material  about  which 
the  party  of  the  future  is  to  rally.  It  would  be  useless  to  impeach 
them.  They  have  been  made  fools  of  in  the  matter  of  Spooner; 


208  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

but  these  men  are  here  in  the  party  to  stay  and  learn.  Sawyer  is 
dead;  Harshaw  is  a  physical  wreck.  Judge  Keyes  is  in  the  cab, 
but  his  hand  is  no  longer  on  the  throttle.  Cham  Ingersoll's  step 
is  less  brisk.  Mr.  Pfister  is  not  old,  but  he  is  no  leader  of  party — 
an  auditor  only.  General  Winkler  is  the  grand,  old  man,  when 
youth  is  calm  to  listen.  Spooner  is  a  versatile  intellect,  but  no 
more  capable  of  managing  a  party  than  is  the  expert  on  Sinaitic 
manuscripts  in  the  British  museum.  Jones  of  Waukesha  is  a  useful 
man,  but  he  has  passed  the  deadline  of  constructive  party  work. 
In  every  city  and  town  are  a  few  old  fellows  who  ' '  don 't  like  the 
looks  of  things, ' '  and  will  take  you  by  the  button-hole  and  tell  you 
of  the  civil  war.  The  procession  has  moved  on  and  they  don 't 
know  it.  The  republican  party  of  Wisconsin  as  it  is  and  is  to  be 
is  in  town  today.  Old  things  have  passed  away.  It  is  useless  to 
talk  of  a  party  to  oppose  them.  You  could  call  such  a  conference, 
but  the  company  could  pass  itself  off  for  an  old  settlers '  reunion. 
The  youth,  the  hope,  the  future,  are  in  town  today.  They  have 
renominated  LaFollette.  They  are  "  it. ' ' 

Continuing,  the  paper  said  solemnly : 

The  State  Journal  will  support  the  ticket,  but  give  unfolding 
events  the  close  watch  made  imperative  by  LaFollette 's  slaughter 
of  Spooner.  God  save  the  commonwealth  of  Wisconsin! 


CHAPTER  XV 

Reactionary  Policy  of  Democrats. 

CONVENTION  DOMINATED  BY  CORPORATION  INFLUENCES — DAVE 
EOSE  NOMINATED — BRYAN  DENOUNCES  PARTY  STATE  PLATFORM — 
BRYAN'S  FURTHER  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  WISCONSIN  KEFORM  MOVE 
MENT — MANY  LEADING  DEMOCRATS  SILENT — LAFOLLETTE  MAKES 
GREAT  OPENING  SPEECH  AT  MILWAUKEE — STIRRING  CAMPAIGN  OF 
MANY  INCIDENTS — LAFOLLETTE  MEETS  SPOONER  ISSUE — LAFOL 
LETTE  EE-ELECTED — DEMOCRATIC  DEFECTION  ESTIMATED  AT  30,000., 

IxEMARKABLE  as  was  the  republican  convention  of 
that  year,  that  of  the  democratic  party  was  no  less  strik 
ing  from  another  point  of  view.  It  was  to  prove  one  of 
humiliating  memory. 

Never  had  there  been  exhibited  in  a  convention  of  the 
party  a  greater  lack  of  high  leadership ;  never  a  more 
pathetic  lack  of  vision  as  to  issues.  In  spite  of  the  fact 
that  in  previous  campaigns  the  party  had  declared  for 
primary  elections,  and  more  equitable  taxation  of  the 
properties  of  railroads  and  other  corporations,  it  now 
yielded  completely  to  the  corporations  and  put  forth 
a  blundering  and  reactionary  declaration  of  principles. 
It  is  true  that  LaFollette  had  appropriated  all  the  issues 
upon  which  reasonable  appeal  could  be  made,  but  instead 
of  affirming  the  same  principles  the  democrats  with  some 
thing  of  their  old-time  party  stupidity  took  an  opposing 
and  weaker  position,  pronouncing  the  primary  principle, 
for  instance,  "un-American  and  undemocratic." 

It  was  appropriate  that  heading  the  ticket  nominated 
on  this  platform  should  be  Mayor  Dave  Rose  of  Mil 
waukee,  he  of  the  dictum,  "this  dying  for  principle  is 
all  -  —  rot." 

Held  in  Milwaukee  September  3,  the  convention  was 
completely  dominated  by  the  so-called  "city  hall  gang" 

14 


210  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

of  the  metropolis,  largely  composed  of  mere  tools  of  the 
privilege-seeking  corporations,  whose  representatives 
from  all  parties  swarmed  about  the  hall. 

It  was  a  matter  of  wonder  to  many  how  this  bi-partisan 
body  was  held  together,  and  managed  by  Rose,  but  it 
was  not  so  remarkable  in  view  of  the  hold  Rose  had  upon 
the  city  electorate,  as  shown  by  his  repeated  elections 
as  mayor.  He  exercised  a  peculiar  influence  over  his 
townspeople,  to  whom  he  appeared  as  guide,  philosopher 
and  friend.  Once  a  girl  from  the  country  was  told  by 
her  landlady  that  she  had  committed  an  error  in  going 
into  a  certain  "palm  garden"  one  evening. 

"Why,"  she  replied  in  naive  astonishment,  "I  saw 
Mayor  Rose  and  a  lot  of  women  in  there." 

At  the  time  of  the  Bigelow  bank  embezzlement  a  great 
and  embarrassing  run  on  the  bank  was  threatened.  All 
night  long  people  gathered  in  front  of  the  building  and 
morning  found  a  clamorous  mob,  composed  largely  of 
laboring  people  of  many  nationalities,  stretching  for 
blocks  away  waiting  to  swoop  upon  the  bank  and  with 
draw  their  slender  deposits  as  soon  as  the  doors  should 
be  opened.  The  mayor  was  called  upon  to  see  what  he 
could  do  to  reassure  the  panicky  depositors.  With  his 
imposing  front  he  appeared  before  them. 

"Citizens  of  Milwaukee,"  he  said  impressively,  "you 
all  know  Dave  Rose"  (Cheers).  "Every  cent  that  I 
have  is  in  this  bank,  and  if  I  had  any  more  money,  I'd 
put  it  in  there." 

It  was  enough.  The  anxious  toilers  who  had  stood 
all  night  in  the  street  went  back  empty-handed  to  their 
humble  homes. 

The  democratic  platform  created  a  sensation  through 
out  the  country.  William  J.  Bryan,  in  an  editorial  in 
The  Commoner,  denounced  the  convention  body  as  "a 
set  of  blunderers  and  political  cowards." 


REACTIONARY  POLICY  OF  DEMOCRATS  211 

"The  democrats,"  he  said,  "instead  of  standing  by  \ 
him   (LaFollette)  when  he  was  right  and  appealing  to    \ 
the  country  on  the  national  issues,  in  which  he  is  wrong, 
adopted  the  short-sighted  policy  of  trying  to  conciliate 
that  element  of  the  republican  party  which  can  never  be 
democratic.     To  denounce  a  primary  law  as  "un-Amer 
ican  and  un-democratic  "  is  to  betray  an  ignorance  of 
what  democracy  really  is,"  etc. 

LaFollette  said  later  of  this  convention:  :'The  cor 
porations  having  failed  to  control  the  republican  con 
vention  were  given  the  control  of  the  opposing  conven 
tion  without  contest.  The  platform  adopted  in  that  con 
vention  was  the  joint  work  of  the  corporation  elements 
of  both  political  parties.  The  republican  bosses,  re 
pudiated  by  the  republican  state  convention,  refused  to 
recognize  the  republican  platform  and  gave  their  sup 
port  to  the  opposition,  while  thousands  of  democrats 
openly  supported  the  principles  in  the  republican  con 
vention.  ' ' 

Also  in  his  great  opening  speech  in  Milwaukee  Sep 
tember  30  that  year  he  pictured  a  phase  of  the  proceed 
ings  in  these  graphic  words : 

But,  mark  you,  the  convention  which  assembled  in  Milwaukee 
on  the  third  day  of  this  month  adopted  a  platform  which  contained 
no  hint  or  suggestion  or  criticism  of  that  republican  legislature 
for  violating  its  promise  to  make  railroads  and  other  public-service 
corporations  pay  their  just  share  of  the  taxes! 

Marvelous  spectacle  indeed!  In  a  state  convention  the  most 
important  legislative  proceeding  in  a  generation  of  time — legisla 
tive  action  which  had  saved  the  railroads  more  than  a  million 
dollars  a  year  at  the  expense  of  the  other  taxpayers  of  the  state — 
is  barred  from  all  mention  by  an  impenetrable  wall  of  silence. 

Was  not  that  a  very  strange  proceeding  for  a  political  con 
vention?  Can  a  similar  instance  be  found  in  all  the  political  his 
tory  of  the  entire  country?  It  is  quite  apparent  that  someone 
sought  to  have  incorporated  in  that  platform  a  condemnation  of 
the  legislature  for  not  passing  the  railroad  and  other  corporation 
tax  bills.  It  is  equally  plain  that  the  influences  which  were  pro 
tecting  corporation  interests  in  that  convention  compelled  it  to 


212  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

perform  hari-kari  with  the  resolution  as  originally  drawn.  It  was, 
as  anyone  can  see  by  consulting  the  seventh  resolution  of  that 
platform,  written  in  the  beginning  (omitting  the  preliminary  in 
troductory  words)  as  follows: 

"During  the  two  years  of  control  of  the  legislative  machinery 
no  effective  steps  have  been  taken  for  the  establishment  of  a  sys 
tem  of  equal  taxation. ' ' 

But  it  would  not  do  to  leave  it  in  that  form.  That  would 
stand  as  a  criticism  of  the  men  in  the  legislature  who  had  helped 
kill  the  railroad  tax  bills.  That  must  be  changed.  They  had 
agreed  to  ' '  be  quiet  about  the  legislature,  and  abuse  the  governor. ' ' 
Both  objects  could  be  attained  by  just  writing  in  after  the  word 
' '  taken ' '  the  words  ' '  by  the  governor, ' '  so  that  the  resolution 
when  amended  would  read  as  follows: 

"During  the  two  years  of  control  of  the  legislative  machinery 
no  effective  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  governor  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  system  of  equal  taxation." 

In  this  way  it  could  be  adopted  without  criticising  the  legis 
lature  for  defeating  railroad  taxation. 

This  convention  is  entitled  to  great  credit  and  originality  for 
its  discovery  that  the  governor  at  any  time  ' '  had  control  of  the 
legislative  machinery. ' ' 

What  a  revelation  these  lines  of  the  platform  make!  They 
tell  the  whole  story.  They  force  the  question  home  to  every  man 
who  reflects :  ' '  Was  that  an  old-time  democratic  convention,  fac 
ing  its  political  rival,  quick  to  see  and  point  out  any  mistake,  any 
wrong-doing?" 

For  eighteen  months  the  democratic  press  of  the  state  had 
sounded  a  ringing  note  of  rebuke  to  the  legislature  which  had 
failed  to  keep  its  promises,  and  when  there  comes  the  day  and  the 
hour  for  the  crystallization  of  all  this  criticism  in  a  political  plat 
form,  proclaiming  from  the  housetop  that  broken  pledge,  the  bad 
faith  of  that  legislature — then,  then,  when  the  democratic  ear  is 
strained  to  catch  the  party  slogan,  this  Milwaukee  convention  for 
some  peculiar  reason  is  as  silent  as  the  house  of  the  dead. 

What  does  it  mean?  What  is  its  real  significance?  This 
omission,  this  silence,  "cries  trumpet-tongued  to  heaven"  for  ex 
planation.  Here  was  an  opportunity  that  would  not  occur  again 
in  the  average  lifetime  of  a  democrat,  for — disciplined  as  it  has 
been  by  that  experience — the  republican  party  of  Wisconsin  will 
never  again  break  its  platform  promises.  Here  was  a  chance  such 
as  would  have  opened  the  eyes  of  a  democrat,  dead  in  his  grave. 
And  yet  not  a  word,  not  a  whisper  about  it,  in  all  the  platform 
declarations  of  that  convention.  That  speaking  silence  which  con- 


REACTIONARY  POLICY  OF  DEMOCRATS  213 

fesses,  which  proclaims  to  all  the  world,  that  the  controlling  force 
in  the  convention  was  in  full  membership  and  sympathy  with  the 
legislative  action  defeating  railroad  taxation,  will,  before  this 
campaign  is  over,  open  the  eyes  of  every  living  democrat  in  the 
state. 

This  question  will  force  itself  upon  every  member  of  that 
party;  it  will  come  demanding  an  answer  every  time  he  remembers 
the  defeat  of  the  railroad  taxation  bills,  which  that  silence  plainly 
approves:  Was  that  a  real  old-fashioned  democratic  convention, 
or  was  it  a  corporation  convention  for  defaming  the  character  of 
men  who  will  not  bend  and  cannot  be  broken  by  all  the  mighty 
power  it  represented?  Democrats  will  remember  that  there  were 
many  honored  members  of  their  party  in  that  convention,  but  they 
will  not  forget  that  those  democrats  did  not  write  its  platforms 
nor  control  in  nominating  its  ticket. 

LaFollette's  implied  prophecy  was  vindicated  by  the 
results  of  the  campaign.  Many  high-minded  democratic 
leaders  refused  to  endorse  the  platform  or  take  the  field. 
In  the  course  of  the  campaign  the  republican  state  cen 
tral  committee  issued  a  circular  at  the  head  of  which 
was  printed  the  names  of  J.  L.  O'Connor,  Louis  G. 
Bomrich,  P.  H.  Martin,  A.  J.  Schmitz,  F.  Wm.  Cotz- 
hausen,  W.  H.  Rogers,  and  asking,  "Why  Are  These  Big 
Guns  of  Democracy  Silent  in  This  Campaign?  The 
Answer  Suggests  Itself." 

Rose  made  a  vigorous  canvass  and  employed  for  the 
purpose  a  special  train  which  came  to  be  appropriately 
known  as  the  "  Whoop-la-Special. "  He  was  warmly 
received  by  the  stalwarts  and  at  many  places  where  he 
spoke  he  was  presented  with  bouquets  of  roses,  with  the 
statement  that  each  rose  represented  some  republican  in 
the  place  who  had  come  over  to  his  support.  It  is  said 
that  on  such  occasions,  the  candidate,  through  a  pre 
arranged  signal,  would  take  a  drink  of  water,  make  two 
taps  with  the  glass,  whereupon  some  young  lady  would 
step  forward  with  the  bouquet. 

It  is  interesting  to  here  note  Bryan's  further  attitude 
toward  Wisconsin  in  this  campaign.  Not  only  was  he 


214  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   or   WISCONSIN 

prompt  and  unsparing  in  his  denunciation  of  the  demo 
cratic  platform  adopted,  but  he  refused  absolutely  to 
enter  the  state  lest  such  action  might  be  misinterpreted 
as  giving  some  semblance  of  sanction  to  it.  Governor 
LaFollette  himself  made  public  this  interesting  fact 
some  years  later  in  a  speech,  saying : 

I  happened  to  be  out  at  Lincoln,  Neb.,  attending  a  Chautauqua 
meeting  and  while  in  my  room  at  the  hotel  a  knock  came  at  my 
door.  I  did  not  even  know  that  Bryan  was  in  Lincoln  at  that  time 
— he  is  traveling  around  the  country  most  of  the  time.  I  said 
' '  Come  in ' '  and  William  Jennings  Bryan  walked  into  my  room. 
He  stayed  about  five  minutes,  but  he  stayed  long  enough  to  say 
to  me  at  that  time :  ' '  LaFollette,  you  have  got  a  big  fight  on ; 
you  are  doing  the  best  work  in  Wisconsin  that  is  being  done  any 
where  in  this  country  for  popular  government.  You  are  doing 
the  best  thing  in  Wisconsin  that  is  being  done  anywhere  against 
the  great  evil,  and  you  are  losing  a  part  of  the  republican  support 
that  you  ought  to  have.  I  believe  that  that  movement  is  worth 
so  much  to  the  people  of  this  country  that  I  want  you  to  get  all 
the  support  that  you  can  get  out  of  the  democratic  party,  and  I 
shall  not  cross  the  line  of  Wisconsin  to  make  a  political  speech  in 
that  state  to  solidify  the  democratic  party  against  you.  More 
than  that  I  will  give  you  support  for  those  movements  and  for 
those  important  pieces  of  legislation. ' '  And  he  did.  I  say  to  you 
tonight  that  William  Jennings  Bryan  never  came  into  Wisconsin 
in  1902  to  make  a  political  speech  in  that  campaign,  and  he  did 
not  come  into  Wisconsin  in  1904  to  make  a  political  speech,  al 
though  this  was  a  presidential  year,  for  the  reason  that  he  wanted 
the  democrats  of  this  state  to  help  us  in  that  great  movement.  I 
tell  you,  my  friends,  the  man  who  is  as  much  bigger  than  his 
party,  as  this  indicates  Bryan  is,  is  something  more  than  a  poli 
tician;  he  is  a  patriot;  he  is  a  great  leader;  he  stands  out  here 
seeing  clearly  this  great  evil. 

Perhaps  nothing  in  the  whole  course  of  Bryan's  career 
has  more  markedly  stamped  the  bigness  of  the  man,  his 
patriotism  and  sincerity,  than  this  refusal  to  lend  the 
slightest  semblance  of  aid  to  the  discrediting  of  LaFol 
lette  and  his  work,  for  here  was  no  blare  of  trumpets  over 
the  taking  of  a  position,  no  advertising,  but  the  sacrifice 
of  silence,  itself  susceptible  of  disadvantageous  miscon- 


REACTIONARY  POLICY  OF  DEMOCRATS  215 

struction.  Historical  completeness  demands  a  still  fur 
ther  observation  and  digression.  Bryan  later  did  more 
than  present  a  mere  neutral  arm  toward  the  Wisconsin 
cause.  When  in  the  legislative  session  of  1905  the  rail 
road  commission  bill  was  hanging  in  the  balance  he 
chanced  to  be  on  a  lecturing  tour  in  Wisconsin.  One 
day  a  telephone  call  for  the  governor  came  into  the  ex 
ecutive  office. 

"This  is  Bryan,"  said  the  voice  at'the  other  end,  "how 
are  you  getting  on  with  your  legislation  ? ' ' 

"The  best  railroad  bill  in  the  country  is  in  danger  of 
defeat,"  replied  LaFollette. 

"Can  I  be  of  any  service  to  you"?"  asked  Bryan. 

"You  can  be  of  the  greatest  service  if  you  can  come 
down  here  and  line  up  the  democratic  members  for  it, ' ' 
answered  LaFollette. 

"Well,  I  shall  be  in  Milwaukee  tomorrow  morning 
and  shall  be  glad  to  come  over  to  Madison  and  speak  to 
the  members  of  the  legislature  for  it,"  said  Bryan. 

The  next  day  a  joint  meeting  of  the  two  houses  of  the 
legislature  was  held  and  Bryan  made  a  powerful  plea 
to  all  members  to  rise  above  party  and  faction  for  the 
common  good  by  the  enactment  of  progressive  legisla 
tion,  saying: 

I  believe  that  the  best  thing  for  every  democrat  to  do  is  to 
advocate  what  he  believes  to  be  right  whether  he  advocates  it  alone 
or  in  company  with  those  of  another  political  party.  And  I  be 
lieve  it  is  good  for  the  republicans  to  act  upon  the  same  principle. 
I  have  no  patience  whatever  with  the  short-sighted  partisan  policy, 
that  if  you  can 't  get  a  thing  through  your  party  you  must  keep 
the  country  from  getting  it  until  your  party  gives  it.  The  best 
evidence  a  man  can  give  of  his  sincerity  is  to  help  secure  a  thing 
when  somebody  else  will  get  the  benefit  or  the  credit  for  it  instead 
of  himself  or  his  party,  and  I  don  't  believe  that  any  man  can  hurt 
his  party  permanently  by  putting  the  good  of  his  country  above 
the  good  of  his  party  as  it  may  appear  from  time  to  time.  I  am 
glad,  therefore,  that  your  governor  has  taken  the  position  that  he 
has  on  the  questions  that  are  now  dividing  the  country. 


216  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

For  the  subsequent  passage  of  the  railway  commission 
bill  and  the  rehabilitated  public  service  in  Wisconsin  a 
share  of  credit  is  therefore  due  the  great  Nebraska 
patriot. 

The  campaign  which  closed  on  the  night  of  November 
4  that  year  was  one  of  the  sharpest  and  most  spectacular 
in  the  history  of  the  state.  In  some  respects  it  was  un 
paralleled.  Many  of  the  giants  of  all  parties  and  fac 
tions  were  drawn  into  the  contest.  Governor  LaPollette, 
Mayor  Rose,  Senator  Spooner,  former  Senator  Vilas  and 
Neal  Brown  were  among  the  stars  of  the  hustings.  The 
political  meetings  were  marked  by  many  dramatic  inci 
dents  and  much  asking  of  questions  on  the  part  of  the 
voters. 

While  nominally  a  contest  between  the  republican  and 
democratic  parties  it  was  more  than  that.  It  was  a 
contest  between  the  people  and  the  corporations.  This 
fact  was  exemplified  not  only  in  the  progressive  repub 
lican  and  the  reactionary  democratic  platforms,  but  in 
the  leading  candidates  themselves,  LaFollette,  the  un 
flagging  crusader  against  privilege,  and  Rose,  the  friend 
and  servant  of  the  great  public  service  corporations  of 
Milwaukee. 

The  democratic  machinery  having  been  taken  over 
completely  by  the  great  corporate  interests  opposed  to 
reform,  the  friends  and  beneficiaries  of  privilege  of  all 
parties  accordingly  sought  the  democratic  camp  for 
solace  and  companionship,  while  thousands  of  justice- 
loving  democrats  secretly  prepared  to  vote  a  party  re 
buke.  Independence  in  politics  not  being  as  fashionable 
then  as  now,  the  unique  spectacle  was  presented  of  nu 
merous  men  on  both  sides  contributing  to  their  party 
campaign  funds  to  save  the  appearance  of  regularity, 
and  then  taking  the  field  with  long  knives  against  their 
own  party  tickets. 


REACTIONARY  POLICY  OF  DEMOCRATS  217 

The  demand  for  speeches  by  the  governor  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1902  was  something  enormous.  For  instance, 
he  had  over  300  invitations  for  a  Fourth  of  July  address. 
He  finally  accepted  one  from  his  old  home  neighbors  and 
spoke  at  a  celebration  held  on  top  of  Blue  Mounds,  in 
southwestern  Dane  county. 

In  this  stirring  campaign  Governor  LaFollette  made 
fifty-five  speeches,  opening  at  the  West  Side  Turn  hall  in 
Milwaukee  September  30  and  resuming  for  the  remainder 
of  the  campaign  on  October  7.  Sometimes  he  made  five 
speeches  a  day,  and  the  first  two  days  he  was  out  he 
drove  seventy  miles  overland.  Remembering  his  illness 
of  the  previous  year,  his  friends  were  greatly  concerned 
over  the  state  of  his  health  and  actually  feared  that  he 
would  not  be  able  to  conclude  his  opening  speech  at  Mil 
waukee,  but  he  was  in  better  condition  than  they  sus 
pected.  He  had  spent  many  weeks  at  health  resorts 
and  in  visiting  relatives  and  had  thus  built  up  his 
strength.  As  in  his  brief  round  of  the  fall  before,  Mrs. 
LaFollette  accompanied  him  throughout  this  campaign, 
keeping  close  watch  of  his  health.  Throughout  the  en 
tire  campaign  he  completely  ignored  his  opponent, 
Rose,  never  once  mentioning  him.  The, latter  had  sought 
at  various  times  to  draw  the  governor's  fire  and  an 
nounced  that  he  wanted  a  joint  debate  with  LaFollette 
on  the  question  of  the  Milwaukee  franchises,  but  re 
ceived  no  notice.  Rose,  on  the  other  hand,  made  a 
vicious  campaign  of  personalities  and  accusations. 

These  opposing  candidates  themselves  furnished  a  pic 
turesque  element  of  the  campaign  in  the  contrasts  they 
afforded.  LaFollette  was  small  of  stature,  while  Rose 
had  a  physique  of  remarkable  proportions.  He  was  not 
only  a  giant,  but  a  handsome  one,  and  in  the  flower  of 
physical  strength  and  perfection.  He  presented  a  most 
commanding  and  impressive  appearance,  both  on  the 
platform  and  in  meeting  with  men.  LaFollette  was 


218  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

still  dieting  while,  needless  to  say,  Rose  was  not.  It  was 
said  after  the  campaign  that  the  little  fellow  who  lived 
on  bread  and  milk  had  knocked  out  the  giant  who  could 
eat  four  square  meals  a  day. 

But  though  King  Saul  was  very  tall 
And  never  king  was  taller, 
It  was  not  all  to  be  so  tall 
For  better  kings  are  smaller. 

For  all  his  size  he  was  not  wise, 
Nor  was  he  long  annointed 
Ere  people  said  with  shaking  head — 
"We're    sadly    disappointed." 

When  LaFollette  opened  his  campaign  with  a  power 
ful  speech  at  Milwaukee  September  30 — one  of  the  great 
est  he  ever  made — his  opponent  had  already  been  in  the 
field  a  month.  LaFollette  was  ill  at  the  time  and  it  was 
a  serious  question  with  his  friends  if  he  would  be  able  to 
make  the  speech,  but  he  succeeded  in  doing  so.  In  this 
speech,  which  had  been  awaited  with  national  interest,  he 
took  a  firm  stand  for  the  taxation  of  corporations  as  other 
property,  warning  them  not  to  attempt  their  threat  to 
"take  it  out  of  the  people,"  and  that  the  state  had  the 
sovereign  right  of  regulation. 

*     #     * 

In  connection  with  LaFollette 's  campaign  there  were 
many  interesting  incidents.  An  amusing  one  occurred 
at  Lancaster  shortly  after  the  opening  of  the  campaign. 
The  governor  was  dwelling  on  the  interminable  demands 
of  the  old  system  of  choosing  candidates  and  delegates; 
how  town  caucuses  had  to  be  held  to  elect  delegates  to 
the  county  convention,  to  elect  delegates  to  the  state  con 
vention,  to  in  turn  elect  delegates  to  the  national  con 
vention,  etc.;  and  how  there  had  to  be  other  caucuses 
to  elect  delegates  to  the  county  convention  to  nominate 
candidates  for  the  county  offices,  and  still  other  caucuses 


REACTIONARY  POLICY  OF  DEMOCRATS  219 

to  elect  delegates  to  assembly,  senatorial  and  congres 
sional  conventions,  and  so  on,  and  so  on. 

"Now."  he  shouted  dramatically,  "If  there  is  any 
man  in  this  audience  who  has  attended  all  the  caucuses 
and  conventions  in  this  county  this  year  I  wish  he 
would  stand  up  so  I  can  see  what  he  looks  like. ' ' 

To  the  governor's  astonishment  a  lank  individual  at 
the  rear  of  the  hall  unwound  himself  and  rose  up,  while 
an  ill-subdued  titter  gradually  spread  over  the  audience. 
This  broke  into  open  hilarity  as  the  governor  remarked, 
"Well,  my  friend,  you  must  have  had  lots  of  time  on 
your  hands."  The  governor  did  not  know  the  signifi 
cance  of  the  mirth  of  his  hearers  until  after  his  speech, 
when  he  learned  that  the  citizen  who  had  shown  such 
patriotic  interest  in  local  public  affairs  was  one  of  his 
own  game  wardens.  So  much  was  made  of  the  incident 
by  the  opposition  that  to  take  the  wind  out  of  it  LaFol- 
lette  told  the  story  on  himself  at  many  of  the  meetings 
that  followed. 

The  persistent  charge  of  the  opposition  that  the  inde 
pendent  book  companies  had  contributed  $2,000  to  the 
republican  campaign  fund  on  condition  that  State  Super 
intendent  L.  D.  Harvey  was  to  be  sacrificed  by  being 
denied  a  renomination,  called  for  a  reply  from  the  gov 
ernor.  The  opposition  press  in  both  parties  harped 
continuously  on  this  subject  and  in  all  cartoons  this 
alleged  deal  was  suggested.  The  opportunity  for  the 
governor  to  reply  came  at  Mineral  Point,  October  10,  in 
response  to  a  question  by  a  friend,  possibly  pre-arranged. 
The  governor  said : 

It  would  answer  the  purpose  of  those  who  prefer  to  be  silent 
on  railroad  taxation  to  confine  public  attention  for  the  next  four 
weeks  to  the  independent  book  companies  or  any  other  subject. 
I  had  absolutely  no  knowledge  or  information,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  that  Mr.  Kronshage  or  any  other  man  pro 
posed  to  contribute,  or  had  contributed,  for  campaign  expenses  any 
money  received  from  an  independent  book  company,  or  any  other 


220  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   or   WISCONSIN 

book  company,  from  any  copartnership  or  corporation,  either 
directly  or  through  any  individual  acting  for  them,  or  either  of 
them. 

From  an  investigation  that  I  made  after  the  charges  were 
brought  to  my  attention,  I  state  emphatically  that  not  one  dollar 
received  from  any  source  whatever  by  any  one  connected  with  the 
conduct  of  the  campaign  at  Madison  was  received  upon  any  con 
dition  that  any  individual  should  be  nominated  or  defeated  upon 
the  state  ticket  or  that  any  officer  should  then  or  thereafter  show 
any  favor  or  consideration  to  the  contributor,  or  any  one  else  for 
the  contributor.  No  such  proposition  was  ever  made  by  any  one 
or  hinted  at  in  any  manner.  Had  any  such  contribution  ever  been 
offered,  from  any  source  whatever,  it  would  have  been  promptly 
refused  by  those  who  were  conducting  the  campaign.  Those  are 
the  facts. 

Following  this  plain  statement  from  the  governor 
much  less  was  made  of  the  charge  during  the  remainder 
of  the  campaign.  However,  Governor  LaFollette's 
denial  led  to  the  declaration  from  the  stump  by  Neal 
Brown,  the  democratic  philosopher,  that  the  governor's 
profession  of  ignorance  was  like  unto  the  course  of  the 
priest  in  the  holy  place,  who  left  the  sanctuary  so  that 
on  returning  he  might  not  know  whence  came  the  gifts 
that  hung  on  the  horns  of  the  altar. 

For  the  meeting  at  Elkhorn,  the  seat  of  the  stalwart 
stronghold  of  Walworth  county,  October  15,  the  gov 
ernor's  friends  determined  to  give  him  a  reception  to 
show  him  he  had  warm  friends  there  as  well.  Accord 
ingly,  on  his  arrival,  he  found  a  big  parade  arranged 
for  him.  This  was  led  by  one  George  Wylie,  a  popular 
character  76  years  old,  who  rode  a  horse,  both  animal 
and  rider  being  gaily  decorated.  The  streets  through 
which  the  parade  passed  were  turned  into  lanes  of  red, 
white  and  blue. 

At  Fox  Lake,  a  couple  of  days  later,  LaFollette  per 
formed  the  unusual  and  highly  interesting  act  of  calling 
the  local  candidate  for  the  legislature  to  the  front  with 
him  and  declaring  that  such  candidate  had  promised  to 
stand  by  the  party  platform.  The  dissatisfaction  of  the 


REACTIONARY  POLICY  OF  DEMOCRATS  221 

Bryan  democrats  over  their  party  platform  here  cropped 
out  as  one  Bill  Stoddard,  a  well  known  character,  called 
out  in  meeting,  "I  am  a  Bryan  democrat,  but  you  are 
all  right." 

At  LaCrosse,  October  20,  LaFollette  spoke  a  good 
word  for  "Long"  Jones  of  Waukesha,  who  was  a  candi 
date  for  re-election  but  was  doomed  to  be  defeated. 
Jones  had  declared : 

I  shall,  if  re-elected  to  the  state  senate,  vote  for  the  primary 
election  bill  and  assist  by  voice  and  vote,  to  the  best  of  my  ability, 
in  carrying  out  that  principle  by  enacting  that  bill  into  law. 

Of  this  Govern^  LaFollette  said  at  LaCrosse : 

With  commendable  frankness  Jones  does  not  claim  that  his 
individual  feeling  has  changed  as  to  the  principle,  but  he  recog 
nizes  that  as  a  republican  candidate  he  should  be  in  accord  with 
the  republican  platform  and  represent  the  majority  sentiment  of 
his  constituency. 

This  incident  and  the  warfare  in  the  republican  party 
furnished  the  democrats  much  matter  for  pleasantry  and 
ridicule.  Said  Neal  Brown  at  a  democratic  meeting 
October  27 : 

The  republicans  are  bound  to  have  harmony  if  they  have  to 
flght  for  it.  What  is  the  name  of  that  man  out  here  where  they 
drink  water,  I  forget? 

A  voice — ' '  Long  Jones  of  Waukesha. ' ' 

That's  the  man.  I  shall  never  forget  the  scene  when  Long 
Jones  and  short  Bob  fell  on  each  others'  necks.  It  reminded  me 
of  the  old  adage  that  a  man  must  eat  a  peck  of  dirt  in  his  life 
time,  but  I  did  not  think  that  a  man  was  under  the  necessity  of 
eating  the  whole  peck  at  one  time. 

*      *      # 

It  was  inevitable  that  the  Spooner  issue  should  come 
to  an  acute  pass,  to  a  "showdown"  as  it  were,  on  the 
part  of  the  LaFollette  side  and  this  occurred  at  Apple- 
ton. 

Never  was  there  a  sharper  test  of  LaFollette 's  courage 
made  and  never  did  it  ring  truer  or  more  prompt  than 
on  this  occasion. 


222  LAFQLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

The  governor  had  just  concluded  his  speech  and  was 
acknowledging  the  applause  when  a  local  justice  of  the 
peace,  Fred  Heineman,  arose  and  put  this  question  to 
him: 

Governor,  in  view  of  the  brilliant  record  made  by  Senator 
Spooner,  to  which  you  have  so  eloquently  referred,  and  in  view 
of  the  splendid  campaign  he  is  making  for  the  entire  state  ticket, 
are  you  in  favor  of  the  unconditional  re-election  of  John  C. 
Spooner  to  the  United  States  senate? 

"A  silence  like  unto  that  in  one  of  the  tombs  of  the 
Pharoahs  fell  upon  the  assemblage,"  wrote  a  corre 
spondent  who  was  present,  "and  was  broken  by  the 
governor  as  follows:" 

I  will  answer  you  in  this  way,  sir.  I  am  for  the  success  and 
for  the  principles  of  the  republican  party  as  laid  down,  and  the 
day  and  the  hour  that  Senator  Spooner  raises  his  voice  for  the 
principles  of  the  republican  party,  as  laid  down  in  the  state  plat 
form,  I  will  raise  my  voice  for  his  re-election  to  the  United  States 
senate,  because  I  then  can  do  so  in  conformity  with  the  platform 
of  my  party. 

This  daring  and  unequivocal  reply  was  followed  by 
another  moment  of  deep  silence.  The  audience  lingered, 
and  dismay  was  plainly  visible  on  the  faces  of  many  of 
his  friends.  The  tension  was  broken  when  one,  J.  H. 
Harbeck,  stepped  to  the  front  and  said: 

I  propose  three  cheers  for  the  brave  answer  our  governor  has 
given  to  that  question. 

These  were  given  and  the  audience  broke  up,  many 
with  dire  misgivings  at  this  sharpening  of  the  issue  be 
tween  these  two  men. 

From  ocean  to  ocean  the  incident  was  taken  up  in  the 
press  because  of  the  prominence  of  Spooner  in  public 
life.  It  was  generally  believed  that  LaFollette  would 
lose  from  20,000  to  30,000  republican  votes  as  a  conse 
quence  and  that  it  probably  would  mean  his  defeat. 

Even  General  Bryant,  chairman  of  the  state  central 
committee,  with  the  reputation  of  being  the  best  political 


REACTIONARY  POLICY  OF  DEMOCRATS 

diagnostician  in  the  state,  believed  that  LaFollette  had 
committed  a  fatal  error  and  closing  up  his  office  in  Mil 
waukee  he  returned  to  Madison,  declaring  the  campaign 
was  as  good  as  over  and  LaFollette  defeated.  Not  ac 
customed  to  looking  outside  of  party  lines  for  support, 
he  could  not  see  that  thousands  of  Bryan  democrats, 
mutinous  over  the  reactionary  platform  of  their  party, 
were  preparing  to  come  over  to  the  support  of  the  fear 
less  champion  of  popular  rights.  Many  whose  instincts 
were  rather  toward  manipulation  could  not  see  the 
psychological  effect  of  a  strong  stroke  and  appeal.  Gov 
ernor  LaFollette  intuitively  saw  this  and  like  a  political 
fatalist  unknown  to  fear,  as  it  were,  went  serenely  on 
with  his  campaign  confident  of  ultimate  success. 

This  Appleton  action  was,  however,  nothing  remark 
able  in  LaFollette  for  in  the  more  precarious  year  of 
1904  he  said  in  his  speech  at  LaCrosse  that  the  stalwarts 
could  do  him  no  greater  service  than  voting  against  him. 

The  meeting  at  Oshkosh,  Senator  Sawyer's  old  home, 
held  October  29,  was  a  notable  local  affair,  presided  over 
by  Attorney  General  E.  R.  Hicks,  who  two  years  later 
was  to  be  found  fighting  LaFollette.  Hundreds  of  people 
were  unable  to  gain  admission  to  the  hall.  The  asperities 
of  political  warfare  were  softened  on  this  occasion  by  a 
song,  the  tribute  of  a  local  genius,  one  stanza  of  which 
ran: 

Vote  right,   vote   right,  my   boys,   our   cause   is  just   and   grand; 
We  're  hoping  many  glorious  things  for  this,  our  native  land. 
Wisconsin's  son,  Wisconsin's  pride,  tonight  we  all  are  for; 
The  leader  in  the  people's  cause  is  our  brave  governor. 

The  governor  spoke  from  a  roped  platform  on  which 
various  local  events  had  recently  been  held,  and  started  a 
laugh  by  a  reference  to  "missing  the  rope"  as  at  one 
time  he  nearly  fell  over  it.  At  Manitowoc  the  following 
night  he  declared:  "The  eyes  of  the  United  States  to 
night  are  on  Wisconsin.  It  is  not  a  question  as  to  who 
shall  win,  but  the  question  that  the  people  of  the  whole 


224  LAFOLLETTE  's     WINNING     OF     WISCONSIN 

country  are  awaiting  the  solution  of  is,  whether  the 
corporations  or  the  people  here  in  Wisconsin,  where  the 
issue  is  squarely  joined,  are  to  rule." 

At  Green  Bay  the  crowd  arose  and  sang  "America," 
to  a  brass  band  accompaniment,  which  gave  a  cue  for 
an  appeal  by  the  governor  to  consider  public  questions 
on  the  heights  above  partisan  politics  as  "suggested  by 
that  grand  old  melody."  Some  feeling  had  been  occa 
sioned  at  this  place  by  the  absolute  refusal  of  Senator 
Hagemeister  to  rent  the  Park  Pavilion,  the  largest  hall 
in  the  city,  for  this  meeting.  He  had  previously  let  it 
for  a  Spooner  meeting. 

The  meeting  at  Marshfield,  October  30,  was  likewise 
remarkable,  an  incident  of  which  was  an  incipient  fire 
in  the  hotel  where  the  governor  had  gone  to  snatch  an 
hour's  sleep  before  speaking  and  through  the  excitement 
of  which  he  was  not  awakened.  The  governor  was  wel 
comed  with  martial  music  and  the  town  brilliantly 
illuminated  for  the  occasion  at  the  order  of  former 
Governor  Upham,  head  of  the  electric  light  company.  A 
special  train  came  from  Greenwood  with  over  a  hundred 
voters  and  a  brass  band.  The  armory  where  the  gov 
ernor  spoke  was  filled  long  before  the  hour  and  an  over 
flow  meeting  was  held  at  the  city  hall,  addressed  by  John 
J.  Hannan  of  Milwaukee.  This  hall  also  soon  overflowed 
and  rivaled  the  enthusiasm  of  the  armory  when  the 
governor  later  appeared  to  speak  for  fifteen  minutes. 
The  meetings  were  marked  by  many  interruptions  of 
enthusiasm.  * '  Mark  your  tickets, ' '  shouted  the  governor. 
That 's  what  we  are  going  to  do, ' '  came  back  the  ring 
ing  response.  Dave  Rose,  the  democratic  candidate  for 
governor,  in  a  previous  speech  had  urged  the  people  to 
ask  LaFollette  questions,  with  a  view  to  embarrassing 
him,  and  this  was  attempted  by  an  individual  at  this 
meeting;  but  when  the  tall  city  marshal  arose  from  his 
place  in  the  front  seat  and  glared  menacingly  across  the 


REACTIONARY  POLICY  OB-  DEMOCRATS  225 

hall  at  the  offender  the  latter  subsided.  Again  toward 
the  close  of  the  governor's  address  this  individual  at 
tempted  to  interrupt,  whereupon  the  marshal  once  more 
arose  from  his  seat  and  glared  with  the  same  subsiding 
effect,  recalling  the  immortal  batsman  in  the  line,  "one 
scornful  look  from  Casey  and  the  audience  was  awed." 
Such  were  some  of  the  incidents  of  an  interesting  eve 
ning. 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  crowding  events,  the  governor 
yet  found  time  for  cultivating  the  amenities  of  life  and  to 
pay  an  unheralded  visit  to  his  birthplace  and  old  farm 
home  in  the  town  of  Primrose,  Dane  county.  As  a 
relief  from  tales  of  campaign  and  intrigue  an  account 
of  this  outing,  taken  in  the  month  of  October,  may  be  here 
reproduced.  Under  the  caption,  "With  Governor  La- 
Follette  to  Old  Primrose,  in  Fancy,"  one  of  the  Madison 
newspapers  of  the  time  contained  the  following  sketch : 

WITH  GOVERNOR  LAFOLLETTE  TO  OLD  PRIMROSE,  IN  FANCY. 

Governor  LaFollette  returned  to  Madison  a  new  man  Thursday 
night  after  his  visit  to  the  old  LaFollette  stamping  ground  at 
Primrose  where  he  first  saw  the  light  of  day  in  a  little  log  cabin, 
June  14,  1855.  While  but  a  day  was  spent  on  the  dear  familiar 
ground  it  was  a  full  day  and  the  most  perfect  in  all  the  year  so 
far.  There  is  no  place  this  side  of  Italy  where  the  sun  shines 
mellower  than  over  old  Primrose,  as  the  governor  felt,  and  what 
so  suited  to  a  day  of  reminiscence  as  a  bright  autumnal  sky! 
And  it  was  a  day  rich  in  surging  memories.  The  executive  stood 
again  in  hallowed  places  where  in  hardy  pioneer  days  his  parents 
and  uncles  had  toiled  and  suffered.  The  LaFollettes  were  numer 
ous,  a  kindly,  sober  religious  family,  revered  by  their  neighbors 
for  their  honor,  their  hospitality  and  their  deeds  of  kindness  in 
hours  of  need. 

The  company  that  went  on  the  pilgrimage  was  notable  also,  not 
alone  from  the  fact  that  it  included  the  governor  of  the  state  and 
a  judge  of  the  circuit  court,  but,  and  chiefly,  because  there  was 
present  one  of  the  pioneer  mothers  of  Primrose,  Mrs.  Harvey  La 
Follette  of  Indiana,  a  tall,  beautiful,  gracious  woman,  widow  of 
one  of  the  LaFollette  brothers  who  came  to  the  town  in  the  days 
of  its  first  settlement.  She  had  not  seen  the  old  Dane  county  home 
15 


226  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   or   WISCONSIN 

in  thirty-seven  years  and  it  was  primarily  for  her  sake  that  the 
trip  was  taken.  The  party  included  the  families  of  Governor  La 
Follette  and  Judge  Siebecker,  Mrs.  Harvey  LaFollette  and  her 
daughter,  Mrs.  Clara  LaFollette-Nash  of  the  state  of  Oregon,  and 
Charles  S.  LaFollette  of  Chicago,  cousin  of  the  governor,  and  his 
wife.  They  took  the  7  o'clock  morning  train  to  Belleville  over 
the  Illinois  Central  road  and  thence  drove  to  the  old  homestead, 
a  distance  of  six  miles.  It  was  counted  exceedingly  good  fortune 
that  the  finest  day  in  the  year  was  struck  for  the  outing.  Madison 
was  reached  at  9:15  in  the  evening,  so  that  the  whole  day  was 
given  to  pleasure. 

The  road  lay  through  the  rich  farming  land  of  Montrose,  through 
the  village  of  Jamestown,  containing  a  blacksmith  shop  and  an 
orchard,  and  on  past  cheese  factories  into  Primrose.  The  baronial 
home  of  Uncle  Eli  Pederson,  state  treasury  agent,  was  seen,  sit 
uated  on  the  summit  of  a  high  hill  on  a  farm  of  400  acres,  one  of 
the  richest  in  Primrose,  and  the  governor  pointed  out  objects  of 
interest  here  and  there.  To  the  northward,  but  scarce  visible, 
stood  Devil's  Chimney,  a  towering  shaft  of  sandstone,  90  feet 
high,  a  monument  to  the  forces  of  erosion  that  in  countless  ages 
past  scooped  out  the  valley  in  which  it  stands.  On  the  way  the 
old  Hanna  stone  schoolhouse  was  passed.  Here  the  governor  re 
called  thjat  he  had  often  come  for  the  weekly  mail  and  here  he  had 
also  been  in  great  demand  on  every  spelling  school  occasion,  not 
particularly  as  a  champion  speller — although  he  is  said  to  have 
won  a  contest  in  orthography  there — but  chiefly  because  of  his 
ability  to  declaim  a  popular  heroic  poem  entitled  "The  Polish 
Boy."  Near  by  was  the  old  Harvey  LaFollette  home  which  was 
next  visited.  Here  the  pioneer  mother  who  had  presided  over  it 
forty  years  before  led  the  way  to  the  old  spring  and  filled  again 
a  cooling  bottle  as  a  memorial  of  the  visit.  Henceforward  the 
road  was  up  one  steep  hill  and  down  another.  Grapevines  grew 
in  profusion  along  the  old  rail  fences  and  there  were  apparently 
the  same  groves  of  crab  apples*  and  wild  plums.  The  governor 
could  not  forbear  jumping  out  of  the  vehicle  to  gather  some  plums; 
he  was  a  boy  again.  He  and  his  sister  and  aunt  recalled  the  old 
Eliphalet  ("Life")  Thomas  place,  familiar  to  the  LaFollette 
children  as  the  home  of  a  dear  friend  of  the  family.  The  path 
of  the  great  tornado  of  '78  was  also  noticed.  This  disaster  oc 
curred  the  year  before  the  governor  was  graduated  from  the  uni 
versity  and  seven  people  were  killed,  two  in  Primrose.  As  the 
party  came  over  the  crest  of  the  final  hill  there  lay  the  dear  old 


REACTIONARY  POLICY  OF  DEMOCRATS  227 

valley,  almost  unchanged,  with  the  old  Postville  road,  once  an 
Indian  trail  from  the  lead  mines,  and  the  path  of  many  a  farmer 's 
boy  later  who  had  to  drive  sheep  over  it  to  Postville.  Directly  in 
front  where  the  roads  join  stood  the  first  house  in  Primrose,  built 
by  Eobert  Spears  in  1844,  and  across  the  way  from  it  they  saw 
the  old  barn,  the  first  frame  building  in  the  town,  a  leaning  ruin 
eloquent  in  memories  of  the  past.  The  old  spring  which  deter 
mined  the  location  of  the  cabin  still  babbled  across  the  road 
though  not  with  its  one-time  vigor.  The  spring  is  the  source  of  a 
small  stream  that  flows  out  of  the  yard  and  across  the  road.  It 
has  never  been  bridged  and  farmers  for  a  generation  or  more 
have  been  wont  to  stop  and  water  their  teams  in  it  and  slake  their 
own  thirst.  It  is  related  with  pride  by  the  people  roundabout  that 
the  renowned  violinist,  Ole  Bull,  once  stopped  to  drink  there  while 
on  his  way  to  visit  the  Norwegian  settlement  in  Perry.  Less  than 
a  dozen  steps  brought  the  reverent  visitors  to  the  old  frame  school- 
house,  unchanged  after  all  the  years,  where  the  governor  and  Mrs. 
Siebecker  had  attended  as  toddlers,  and  then  but  another  step 
down  the  road  there  broke  on  their  view  the  old  dear  homestead 
with  its  flood  of  sacred  associations. 


The  little  valley,  with  its  steep,  narrow  hillsides  that  once  shut 
in  the  ambitions  that  now  compass  the  entire  state,  looked  greener 
than  it  has  in  a  score  of  years  past  and  was  not  unlike  that  which 
the  future  governor  trod  in  barefoot  days.  The  searching  feet  of 
change  have  not  often  found  their  way  up  its  narrow,  crooked 
roads  and  the  rainy  season  this  year  had  produced  as  lusty  a  crop 
of  burdocks,  hemp  and  mullein  as  flourished  in  the  old  days  in  the 
pigpen  and  calf  pasture  on  the  flat  beside  the  little  trickling 
stream.  But  as  the  governor  cast  his  eyes  up  the  western  hillside 
back  of  the  old  home,  he  missed  the  groves  of  wild  crab  apples 
and  wild  plums  which  were  such  a  delight  in  his  boyhood.  The 
old  trees  were  gone,  but  other  similar  clumps  were  noticed  else 
where,  so  he  was  not  entirely  unconscded  at  their  loss. 

Christ  Englund,  the  Norwegian  who  now  owns  the  celebrated 
farm,  had  not  been  notified  of  the  coming  of  his  distinguished 
guests  and  so  was  greatly  astonished  when  the  carriages  drove  up 
and  the  genial  governor,  who  never  forgets  a  name  or  a  face, 
waved  his  hand  and  called  out  familiarly: 

"Hello!      Chris,  how  are  you,  old  boy?" 

The  happy  executive  who  had  left  far  behind  the  vexing  cares 
of  politics  and  state  to  step  once  more  on  his  native  heath,  bounded 
out  of  the  vehicle  and  gave  the  farmer  such  a  handgrip  as  the  lat- 


228  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

ter  had  not  felt  since  he  last  called  on  Bob  in  Madison.  Gradually 
speech  returned  to  the  astonished  farmer  and  when  the  nature  of 
the  visit  was  made  known  he  welcomed  the  party  and  said  he 
would  kill  the  fatted  calf  in  a  trice  if  they  could  wait  a  few 
minutes.  The  fatted  calf  in  this  instance  was,  so  to  speak,  a 
number  of  wild-eyed  turkeys  that  were  picking  their  stilted  way 
through  the  smartweed  near  at  hand.  But  while  the  governor 
doubtless  felt  some  of  the  twinges  of  the  returning  prodigal  he 
waved  his  friend  off,  saying  he  would  not  for  the  world  put  him 
to  any  trouble;  that  they  had  brought  their  own  lunch  and  that 
they  would  eat  it  under  the  shadow  of  the  old  elder  bushes  beside 
the  calf  pasture.  The  ladies  might  go  in  the  house  for  a  visit  if 
they  cared,  while  the  men  folks  would  look  over  the  place  a  little. 
The  governor  inquired  eagerly  for  the  old  log  cabin,  now  gone, 
the  old  barn,  part  of  which  was  still  standing,  the  condition  of 
the  crops,  etc.,  and  noted  some  minor  changes  that  had  occurred. 

After  inquiring  about  the  neighbors  the  governor  pushed  aside 
the  weeds  and  grass  to  take  a  look  at  the  little  stream  that  flowed 
past  the  old  cabin  door,  but  found  that  the  dry  seasons  of  recent 
years  had  swallowed  it  up.  Kegretfully  he  walked  over  to  what 
remained  of  the  old  frame  house  that  was  annexed  to  his  cabin 
home  and  recalled  many  incidents  of  mischievous  childhood.  Here 
he  had  made  cider  and  applejack,  here  brought  home  great  bags 
of  crab  apples,  walnuts  and  hazelnuts,  and  here  grown  watermelons 
— Oh!  how  sweet  and  cool — and  sunflowers  and  morning  glories. 
He  rejoiced  that  the  day  should  be  one  of  almost  supernal  beauty. 
It  was  as  if  heaven  smiled  upon  his  visit  to  the  old  haunts  and 
had  sent  the  dispensation  of  old-time  mellow  sunshine,  which  more 
than  anything  else  recalled  his  happy,  innocent  days  of  early  life. 
Mrs.  Siebecker  smiled  at  the  many  incidents  recalled  and  added 
her  quota  of  girlhood  pioneer  experiences,  while  the  venerable 
aunt  told  of  quilting  parties  and  husking  bees,  as  well  as  many 
sterner  memories. 

It  was  a  great  day  for  ' '  Bob, ' '  Jr.,  and  little  Phil.  They  romped 
after  the  calves,  clambered  over  impossible  fences,  got  lost  in  the 
tall  grass  and  ate  everything  green  in  sight.  The  governor  laughed 
heartily  at  their  fun  and  the  venerable  grand  aunt  saw  in  them 
the  Bob  of  two  score  years  back,  wliile  the  first  lady  in  the  state 
ruined  a  gown  trying  to  keep  up  with  the  little  rovers  through  the 
nettles  and  underbrush.  The  exercise,  she  admitted,  beat  Emily 
Bishop  delsarte  all  hollow  and  as  she  caught  up  all  rosy  and  half 
out  of  breath  with  her  daughter  a  farmer  on  his  way  to  the  Mt. 
Vernon  mill  cast  a  sly,  mischievous  glance  at  them  as  he  lounged 
in  his  seat  and  called  out  familiarly :  ' '  Hello !  girls !  ' ' 


REACTIONARY  POLICY  OF  DEMOCRATS  229 

The  lunch  was  a  great  success;  farm  day  appetites  lent  the 
keenest  relish,  and  jollity  unbounded  prevailed.  A  visit  was  made 
to  the  schoolhouse  and  the  spring  and  the  stroll  continued  up  the 
road. 

After  all  the  returning  children  had  steeped  their  minds  in  the 
merry  and  melancholy  memories  called  up  by  the  visit  a  reluctant 
adieu  of  the  old  place  was  taken  and  the  carriages  turned  east 
ward  on  the  return  trip. 

*      *      * 

At  the  close  of  the  campaign  Governor  LaFollette 
spoke  to  a  great  audience  of  six  thousand  people  at  the 
Exposition  building  in  Milwaukee  on  the  night  of  No 
vember  1.  It  was  an  enthusiastic  audience,  good-hu 
mored,  and  in  sympathy  with  him.  In  discussing  pri 
mary  elections,  the  governor  said,  * '  Close  up  your  saloons 
as  you  do  on  election  day."  This  remark  started  a  wave 
of  laughter. 

"I  guess  you  don't  know  where  you  are  at,  Bob,"  said 
a  friend.  The  governor  saw  the  point  and  smiled:  "I 
have  never  been  in  Milwaukee  on  election  day,"  he  said. 

On  returning  to  Madison,  November  5,  Governor  and 
Mrs.  LaFollette  drove  from  the  station  to  the  voting 
booth  in  the  fourth  ward  where  they  lived,  and  both 
voted.  The  law  had  been  changed  to  permit  women  to 
vote  in  the  election  of  state  and  county  school  superin 
tendents  and  Mrs.  LaFollette  was  the  first  woman  to  vote 
in  her  ward. 

LaFollette  and  Rose  were  to  have  similar  experiences 
with  their  home  constituencies.  LaFollette 's  previous 
vote  in  Dane  county  of  4,000  plurality  was  cut  to  800  and 
he  also  lost  the  city  of  Madison  by  116,  having  carried 
it  in  1900  by  900  votes.  It  was  an  eloquent  demonstra 
tion  of  the  stalwart  defection.  Rose  also  lost  both  the  '' 
city  and  county  of  Milwaukee. 

While  the  stalwarts  bolted  the  ticket  by  tens  of  thou 
sands  at  the  November  election  LaFollette  was  neverthe 
less  returned  by  a  plurality  of  47,599,  the  vote  being  La- 


230  LAFOLLETTE 'S     WINNING     OF     WISCONSIN 

Follette,  republican,  193,417;  Rose,  democrat,  145,818; 
Emil  Seidel,  socialist,  15,970;  E.  W.  Drake,  prohibition 
ist,  9,647 ;  H.  E.  D.  Peck,  social  labor,  791. 

The  slump  in  the  total  vote  in  this  election  from  that 
of  1900  was  about  75,000.  The  democratic  loss  was  about 
15,000,  the  republican  about  70,000.  The  socialist  vote 
was  increased  about  10,000,  presumably  drawn  equally 
from  the  republicans  and  the  democrats.  The  larger 
part  of  this  stay-at-home  vote,  it  is  safe  to  say,  was  repub 
lican.  However,  it  is  a  safe  presumption  also,  in  view 
of  the  activities  of  the  stalwart  league,  that  thousands  of 
republicans  voted  the  democratic  ticket.  The  fact  that 
the  democratic  ticket,  in  spite  cf  this  republican  support, 
suffered  a  loss  of  15,000  votes  would  indicate  a  substantial 
:U  democratic  defection  to  LaFollette.  In  fact,  it  has  been 
^estimated  that  the  number  of  democrats  who  came  over 
to  LaFollette  in  this  election  was  30,000. 

The  advent  of  LaFollette  was  to  prove  disruptive  of 
practically  all  political  parties  in  Wisconsin.  Previous 
to  his  time  the  antagonisms  were  chiefly  between  the  old 
parties  and  on  national  lines  alone.  Since  then  such 
animosities  have  been  rather  retrospective  and  fanciful 
and  those  entertaining  them  rightly  classed  as  old-fash 
ioned,  whatever  their  party.  Especially  in  the  republican 
party  has  the  factional  division  been  pronounced,  ex 
tending  into  business  and  professional  life,  even  to  this 
day.  The  kindling  of  insurrection  in  his  own  party 
might  naturally  be  expected  to  redound  to  the  advantage 
of  the  opposing  democratic  party,  but  such  was  not  to 
prove  true.  As  Napoleon  disarmed  a  possible  menace  by 
keeping  the  German  states  divided  against  one  another, 
so  LaFollette  put  the  democratic  party  of  Wisconsin 
hors  de  combat  for  years  by  diverting  a  large  element 
of  it  to  his  standard.  It  was  never  a  serious  menace  to 
him. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
Sensational  Legislative  Session  of  1903. 

THREE  SPECIAL  MESSAGES  OF  GOVERNOR  ON  RAILROAD  LEGISLA 
TION — LENROOT  ELECTED  SPEAKER  OF  ASSEMBLY — FIGHT  FOR  PRI 
MARY  ELECTIONS  RENEWED — CONGRESSMAN  BABCOCK  COMES  TO 
DIRECT  STALWART  FORCES — GOVERNOR  VETOES  HAGEMEISTER  BILL 
WITH  STINGING  MESSAGE — PRIMARY  BILL  WITH  REFERENDUM 
FEATURE  FINALLY  PASSED — STALWART  PLAN  TO  DEFEAT  IT  AT 
POLLS — RAILROAD  AD  VALOREM  BILL  PASSED. 

W  ITH  three  special  messages  from  Governor  LaFol- 
lette  on  railroad  issues,  and  desperate  struggles  over  the 
primary  election,  ad  valorem  taxation  and  railway  com 
mission  bills,  the  legislative  session  of  1903  was  probably 
unparalleled  in  excitement  in  the  state's  history.  Sensa 
tions  were  the  order  of  the  day  throughout  almost  the 
entire  session. 

The  temper  of  the  people  over  the  betrayal  of  pledges 
by  the  previous  legislature  was  shown  in  the  fact  that 
the  assembly  of  1903  presented  seventy  new  faces.  The 
republicans  numbered  76,  the  democrats  24,  the  admin- 
isfration  having  a  slight  majority  over  the  combined 
democratic  and  stalwart  vote.  Among  the  prominent 
republicans  of  the  previous  session  who  failed  to  return 
were  Albert  R.  Hall  of  Dunn  county,  Philo  A.  Orton  of 
Lafayette  county,  Henry  Overbeck  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  L. 
M.  Sturdevant  of  Neillsville,  later  attorney  general ;  and 
George  P.  Rossman  of  Ashland.  Among  those  returned 
were  Speaker  George  H.  Ray  of  LaCrosse,  A.  H.  Dahl 
of  Vernon  county,  later  state  treasurer ;  Henry  Johnson 
of  Oconto  county,  also  later  state  treasurer;  W.  W. 
Andrew  and  I.  L.  Lenroot  of  Superior,  Roderick  C. 
Ainsworth  of  Waukesha.  David  Evans,  Jr.,  of  Waukesha, 
Frank  A.  Cady  of  Marshfield,  E.  W.  LeRoy  of  Marinette 


232  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

and  M.  J.  Wallrich  of  Shawano.  New  members  who 
were  to  rise  to  prominence  included  among  others  George 
E.  Beedle  of  Waupaca,  later  commissioner  of  insurance ; 
John  S.  Donald  of  Dane,  later  state  senator  and  secretary 
of  state ;  Herman  L.  Ekern  of  Trempealeau,  later  speaker 
and  commissioner  of  insurance,  and  James  A.  Frear  of 
Hudson,  later  state  senator,  secretary  of  state  and  mem 
ber  of  congress.  On  the  whole  the  assembly  presented  a 
clear-eyed,  genuine-looking  group  of  men,  apparently 
full  of  hopeful  determination  to  legislate  in  the  common 
interests.  Speaking  of  this  body  the  State  Journal  said : 

There  was  an  absence  of  those  boisterous  greetings  from  red- 
faced  politicians  and  ' '  Hello,  Charlie,  where  the  h — 1  did  you  come 
from?"  that  marked  legislative  meetings  in  the  old  days. 

Next  to  A.  R.  Hall,  perhaps,  the  most  conspicuous 
member  of  the  assembly  who  failed  to  return  was  Philo 
A.  Orton  of  Lafayette  county.  Orton  was  one  of  the 
giants  of  the  assemblies  of  1899  and  1901.  Deeply  versed 
in  the  law  and  with  a  rare  facility  and  readiness  in  de 
bate,  but  with  a  certain  archaic  point  of  view,  he  seemed 
to  have  come  up  from  the  legendary  past,  a  survival  of 
the  strong  man  of  his  section  who  laid  the  constitutional 
foundations  of  the  state. 

The  case  of  Orton  suggests  an  observation  in  passing. 
While  experience,  as  a  rule,  brings  added  usefulness  to 
men,  the  reverse  is  frequently  found  to  be  true  of  legis 
lators.  Few  indeed  are  such  men  who  long  remain  true 
and  disinterested  public  servants.  Only  constant  vigil 
ance,  firmness  and  clearness  of  view  will  prevent  their 
independence  and  honor  from  becoming  undermined. 
Self-interest,  ever  tempting  to  go  up  into  the  mountains, 
trifles  and  associations  that  compromise,  or  commit  one 
to  positions  or  policies  contrary  to  public  interests  and 
one's  first  good  resolutions;  security,  tending  to  breed 
stagnant  conservatism  and  inclination  toward  the  easy 
course;  trading,  with  its  alluring  temporary  advantages 
— these  and  other  causes  and  circumstances  eventually 


SENSATIONAL  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1903  233 

ruin  the  usefulness  of  most  legislators.  Many  a  mem 
ber's  worth  is  destroyed  in  his  first  term  of  service. 
Hence,  the  constant  necessity  of  returning  to  the  soil,  so 
to  speak,  for  new  material.  This  was  particularly  true 
of  the  legislatures  of  the  LaFollette  administrations. 

For  instance,  only  six  men  sat  in  the  assembly 
through  the  three  legislative  sessions  of  the  LaFollette 
administrations,  Roderick  C.  Ainsworth  of  Waukesha, 
W.  W.  Andrew  of  Superior,  A.  H.  Dahl  of  Vernon 
county,  Henry  Johnson  of  Oconto  county,  Fred  Hartung 
of  Milwaukee  and  I.  L.  Lenroot  of  Superior.  Through 
out  all  these  sessions,  by  the  way,  Ainsworth 's  name  was 
first  in  all  roll  calls  and  this  old  Roman  met  the  high 
responsibility  of  being  the  first  to  take  a  position  upon 
measures  and  issues  with  unfailing  courage  and  patriot 
ism.  With  him  it  was  no  case  of  waiting  "for  Hugo  to 
vote  first." 

It  may  be  here  further  observed,  however,  that  the 
legislatures  of  the  LaFollette  period  were  remarkable  for 
the  strong  men  they  brought  out,  Like  other  wars,  the 
conflicts  of  the  time  rapidly  made  men  out  of  boys.  Thus 
observers  of  the  period  may  remember,  for  instance, 
when  the  youthful  Herman  L.  Ekern  left  the  speaker's 
chair  to  take  the  floor  and  in  a  stirring  speech  remind 
the  members  of  the  flag  under  which  they  were  sitting, 
and  how  later  the  boyish-looking  John  J.  Elaine  on  his 
first  day  as  state  senator  boldly  moved  for  an  investiga 
tion  of  the  election  expenditures  of  Isaac  Stephenson  as 
United  States  senator.  The  constant  clash  of  mind  on 
mind  created  an  atmosphere  of  hostility  and  suspense 
and  kept  all  responsive  spirits  on  the  qui  vive.  The  chal 
lenge  of  battle  was  ever  in  the  air,  and  every  mind  was 
on  the  alert  for  surprises,  for  strategy  and  the  seizing 
of  occasions.  Out  of  this  stress  and  turmoil  many  a 
mind  came  forth  sharpened  and  strengthened  for  future 
achievement.  Hitherto  obscure  lawyers,  country  mer- 


234  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING  OF   WISCONSIN 

chants  and  business  men  developed  into  leaders  and 
constructive  statesmen  whose  names  will  be  written  high 
in  state  history.  The  embattled  farmers  of  the  LaFol- 
lette  regime  were  to  bring  about  wholesome  changes  which 
the  preceding  regencies  of  greater  culture  and  respecta 
bility  had  refused,  or  seemed  unable  to  effect. 

A  period  of  comparative  complacency  has  followed, 
with  legislatures  correspondingly  less  warlike,  but  the 
call  for  sacrifice  has  been  less  imperative.  The  LaFol- 
lette  episode  marked  the  stressful  transition  from  lobby- 
bossed  legislatures,  with  attorneys  of  private  interests 
framing  legislation,  to  the  present  practice  of  employing 
"people's  experts"  for  this  work. 

To  return  to  Orton.  In  the  session  of  1899  he  took 
a  strong  hand  in  advancing  progressive  legislation,  as 
shown  by  his  efforts  in  putting  through  the  bills  increas 
ing  the  taxes  upon  the  state's  great  insurance  corpora 
tions.  He  was  then  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  coming 
leaders  in  the  reform  legislation  which  shrewd  politicians 
saw  was  impending.  Then  came  the  campaign  of  1900, 
with  its  multiplicity  of  gubernatorial  candidates,  and 
the  final  complete  triumph  of  LaFollette  for  the  nomina 
tion.  Orton  had  himself  had  dreams  of  the  governor 
ship,  but  his  county  elected  LaFollette  delegates  to  the 
state  convention.  Orton  was  returned  to  the  assembly 
and  appointed  chairman  of  the  important  committee 
on  the  judiciary,  but  disappointed  the  expectations  of 
his  former  friends  by  reversing  his  previous  course  and 
becoming  the  reactionary  leader  of  the  assembly,  thus 
almost  completely  destroying  the  influence  he  had  ac 
quired.  So  completely  was  he  discredited  that  although 
he  was  chairman  of  its  most  important  committee,  and 
perhaps  its  ablest  member,  the  assembly  took  the  remark 
able  course  of  rejecting,  as  a  rule,  the  measures  favorably 
reported  by  the  committee  and  advancing  measures  on 
which  the  committee  reported  adversely.  Yet  the  legis- 


SENSATIONAL  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1903  235 

lation  so  enacted  in  the  face  of  the  committee  on  judi 
ciary  stands  on  the  statute  books  today.  Naturally 
Orton  was  not  returned  to  the  legislature  in  1903. 

Three  candidates  were  brought  out  for  the  speaker- 
ship,  George  H.  Ray  of  LaCrosse,  who  had  been  speaker 
in  the  sessions  of  1899  and  1901;  Ira  B.  Bradford  of 
Augusta,  and  Irvine  L.  Lenroot  of  Superior,  who  had 
made  such  a  brilliant  record  in  debate  in  the  previous 
session  as  to  make  him  a  marked  man  among  his  col 
leagues.  The  administration  forces  centering  on  Len 
root,  he  was  nominated  in  the  republican  caucus  and  the 
next  day  elected  011  motion  of  Mr.  Ray. 

But  the  administration  failed  to  capture  the  senate 
although  ten  of  the  eighteen  new  members  chosen  were 
administration  men.  The  senate  line-up  was :  Stalwart 
republicans,  16 ;  stalwart  democrats,  2 ;  administration 
republicans,  14 ;  administration  democrats,  1.  Among 
the  strong  administration  senators  returned  were  H.  C. 
Martin,  W.  H.  Hatton,  J.  H.  Stout  and  J.  J.  McGillivray, 
while  among  stalwarts  returned  were  A.  M.  ("Long") 
Jones,  A.  L.  Kreutzer  and  Barney  A.  Eaton.  There 
were  eleven  holdover  stalwart  senators,  all  of  whom  had 
been  members  of  the  Republican  League.  Accordingly 
thej&talwarts  organized  the  senate. 

I^Again  Governor  LaFollette  appeared  in  person  and 
read  his  message  which  was  the  longest  so  far  in  state 
history.  In  its  exhaustive  treatment  of  recommenda 
tions  it  was  unparalleled.  1  A  new  war  cry  in  Wisconsin 
politics,  the  demand  for  a  railway  commission  to  fix  and 
regulate  rates,  was  the  striking  feature  of  it/]  In  support 
of  the  demand  for  a  commission,  great  tables  of  impres 
sive  statistics— the  work  of  Halford  E.  Erickson,  Walter 
Drew  and  C.  A.  Tupper  of  Milwaukee — were  presented 
to  show  that  the  people  of  Wisconsin  were  paying  from 
28  to  40  per  cent  more  in  freights  for  the  same  length 
of  haul  than  were  the  people  of  Iowa  and  Illinois  where 


236  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

there  were  commissions  to  regulate  rates.  The  message 
also  endorsed  the  ad  valorem  tax  idea,  gave  ominous 
warning  to  the  lobby  and  showed  unflinching  firmness 
for  primary  election  legislation.  It  was  described  by  an 
opponent  as  "vigorous,  drastic  and  alive,  studiously  con 
servative  in  tone,  but  positive."  Even  outside  of  the 
state  it  occasioned  much  comment.  Its  marked  states 
manship  was  noted  and  its  author  was  suspected  of  bid 
ding  for  the  favorable  notice  of  a  larger  field  than  his 
home  constituency.  Said  the  Wisconsin  State  Journal: 

The  fact  is,  Governor  LaFollette  was  talking  less  to  Wiscon 
sin  Thursday  than  to  the  nation.  He  counts  himself  and  the  issues 
he  stands  for  no  present  day  matters,  but  permanent,  abiding. 
The  delivery  of  the  address,  the  few  hundred  people  before  him 
were  but  an  incident.  LaFollette  was  talking  to  the  American 
people;  to  his  generation  everywhere. 

The  message  presaged  stormy  times  ahead  wexe  the 
railroads  to  contest  the  governor's  demands.  It  was 
pointed  out  by  the  governor's  opponents  that  A.  R.  Hall 
had  session  after  session  introduced  a  railway  commis 
sion  bill  and  time  after  time  had  also  read  tables  of  rates 
"equidistant  from  Chicago,"  without  even  getting  his 
bill  through  one  house,  but  here  was  a  new  and  master 
ful  champion  of  the  idea  who  could  command  a  follow 
ing  which  Hall  could  nof.  Opposition  to  the  governor's 
program  included  fighting  primary  elections  as  well  as 
railway  legislation,  although  some  discerning  stalwart 
leaders  counseled  otherwise.  One  of  them  wrote :  "With 
public  sentiment  behind  LaFollette  the  situation  will  not 
be  what  it  was  two  years  ago.  I  should  say  the  legislator 
who  took  a  stand  now  that  '  there  is  nothing  in  primary 
elections'  would  be  inviting  a  return  to  private  life." 

Both  sides  prepared  for  a  hard  struggle.  The  stal 
wart  press  began  publishing  long  articles  on  the  opera 
tion  of  the  railway  commission  laws  in  Illinois  and  Iowa 
to  prove  their  value  was  small,  while  the  administration 


SENSATIONAL  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1903  237 

organs  printed  statistics  to  prove  that  the  people  of  Wis 
consin  were  the  victims  of  discrimination. 

While  there  were  many  other  significant  contests  over 
measures  of  no  little  importance,  the  great  legislative 
battles  of  the  session  were  over  primary  elections,  ad 
valorem  taxation  of  railways  and  railway  rate  regula 
tion.  Briefly,  some  phases  of  these  contests  may  be 
noticed,  beginning  with  that  over  the  primary  election 
hill. 

fjOn  January  30  primary  election  bills  much  like  the 
rejected  Stevens  bill  of  the  previous  session  were  intro 
duced  l»y  Assemblyman  Andrew,  chairman  of  the  assem 
bly  committee  on  privileges  and  elections,  and  Assembly 
man  Frear,  ranking  member  of  the  same  committee. 
Three  days  later,  Monday,  February  2,  a  new  bill,  a  sub 
stitute  to  97a  (the  Stevens  bill,  by  the  way,  was  known 
as  98a)  was  reported  by  the  committee.  Rushed  through 
its  preliminary  stages,  it  was  passed  on  Friday,  by  a 
vote  of  70  to  19,  Assemblyman  Frear  making  the  prin 
cipal  speech  in  favor  of  the  bill,  and  on  Monday,  Febru 
ary  9,  a  week  after  its  introduction,  it  was  messaged  to 
the  senate. 

In  the  meantime  Assemblymen  Ray  and  Wallrich  had 
sought  to  obtain  delay  and  nearly  a  dozen  other  members 
had  presented  various  exempting  and  dilatory  amend 
ments,  but  to  no  avail.  The  celerity  of  action  with  which 
the  bill  was  passed  was  described  as  "characteristic  of 
the  administration,"  but  the  administration  took  the 
ground  that  since  the  whole  subject  had  been  thrashed 
over  at  the  previous  session  there  was  no  need  for  delay. 

In  the  senate  it  was  a  different  story.  Owing  to  the 
requests  for  delay  by  stalwart  members,  it  was  not  to 
come  to  a  vote  in  that  house  until  March  26. 

This  delay  was  due  to  a  peculiar  dilemma  in  which 
the  stalwarts  found  themselves,  and  to  a  lack  of  strong 
and  intelligent  leadership.  p[he  three  big  administra- 


238  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

tion  measures,  the  primary  election,  the  railway  ad  val 
orem  and  the  railway  commission  bills,  were  equally  ob 
jectionable  to  them,  but  it  would  not  do  to  kill  them  all, 
as  they  would  make  good  issues  for  LaFollette  and  his 
supporters  in  the  next  campaign  were  they  turned  down. 
This  had  been  demonstrated  in  the  defeat  of  the  Stevens 
bill  in  the  last  session.  Yet  were  the  primary  bill  to  go 
through  it  would  give  LaFollette  more  power  and  pres 
tige.  There  was  little  choice  between  the  two  horns  of 
the  dilemma.  In  their  perplexity,  the  stalwart  leaders 
in  the  legislature  finally  decided  to  lay  the  case  before 
the  two  United  States  senators  at  Washington  for  solu 
tion.  The  decision  of  the  leaders  at  the  national  capital 
was  that  LaFollette  should  be  fought  on  other  measures, 
but  that  the  primary  bill  should  go  through  with  a  refer 
endum  feature  and  that  it  should  be  made  the  issue  in  _ 
the  next  campaign  and  killed  at  the  polls,  if  possible. 
This  fact  is  admitted  in  an  interesting  revelation  in  the  "" 
stalwart  history  of  the  period  by  E.  L.  Philipp,  which 
reads : 

In  this  emergency  a  messenger  was  sent  to  Washington  for 
the  purpose  of  explaining  the  situation  to  the  two  senators  and 
the  members  of  the  lower  house,  particularly  Congressman  Bab- 
cock,  and  get  them  to  agree  upon  some  line  of  action.  Senator 
Quarles,  out  of  deference  to  Senator  Spooner's  seniority,  declined 
to  move  without  the  express  sanction  of  the  latter,  but  he  signi 
fied  his  willingness  to  do  his  full  duty  in  the  work  of  redeeming 
the  party  in  the  state  from  political  disruption.  Mr.  Babcock 
took  the  same  position,  arguing  that  it  was  the  senior  senator's 
place  to  either  lead  the  party  himself  or  consent  to  the  selection 
of  some  other  person  to  assume  the  responsibilities  as  well  as  the 
labors  of  leadership.  There  was  conference  after  conference,  Sen 
ator  Spooner's  well  known  distaste  for  practical  politics,  together 
with  his  disinclination  to  authorize  another,  however  able  and 
willing  to  lead,  to  speak  and  act  for  him,  making  it  impossible  for 
days  to  come  to  an  understanding. 

The  final  outcome  of  the  conferences,  however,  was  that  Mr. 
Babcock  was  delegated  to  come  to  Wisconsin  and  assume  the  lead 
ership  of  the  stalwart,  or  conservative  republicans.  One  of  the 


SENSATIONAL  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1903  239 

conditions  laid  down  by  Senator  Spooiier  before  the  arrangements 
were  completed  was  that  the  primary  election  bill  with  a  referen 
dum  clause  was  to  be  passed  by  the  state  senate.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  two  United  States  senators  and  the  members  of  congress 
who  were  not  in  accord  with  Governor  LaFollette  were  to  take  an 
active  part  in  the  next  campaign  for  the  purpose  of  defeating  the 
bill  when  it  was  presented  to  the  people  for  their  endorsement  by 
popular  vote. 

Having  succeeded  in  the  mission  that  took  him  to  Washing 
ton,  the  messenger  returned  to  Wisconsin  and  reported.  He  was 
followed  in  a  few  days  by  Mr.  Babcock  who  established  himself 
at  Madison  and  undertook  to  advise  the  stalwarts  in  the  legislature 
as  to  the  course  they  should  pursue.  He  assured  the  stalwart  sen 
ators  that  they  could  count  on  the  co-operation  of  Senators  Spooner 
and  Quarles,  as  well  as  certain  congressmen  of  whom  he  was  one, 
and  that  an  earnest  effort  would  be  made  to  perfect  a  real  organi 
zation,  one  that  could  go  into  a  campaign  with  a  prospect  of  win 
ning.  

With  this  understanding  the  stalwart  members  o?  the  state 
senate  agreed  to  carry  out  the  plan  proposed  by  Mr.  Babcock,  as 
originally  outlined  by  Senator  Spooner,  although  Senator  White- 
head  and  others  were  not  convinced  of  its  wisdom.  Mr.  Babcock 
assumed  the  responsibilities  of  the  position  assigned  to  him  by 
the  other  leaders  and  it  was  by  his  direction  that  the  primary 
bill,  objectionable  as  it  was  to  the  stalwart  state  senators,  was 
passed  practically  in  its  original  form  with  the  referendum  section 
attached. 

In  order  to  gain  time  to  get  out  of  their  quandary,  Sen 
ator  Whitehead  on  March  5  moved  that  the  bill  go  over 
till  March  26.  While  this  was  understood  to  be  simply 
a  move  to  gain  time,  the  senate  agreed  to  the  postpone 
ment,  but  remembering  that  Whitehead  had  held  the 
railway  tax  bills  for  two  months  without  action. in  the 
session  of  1901  the  members  smiled,  and  Senator  North 
solemnly  proposed  that  the  rattlesnake  bounty  bill  also 
go  over  to  the  same  date.  Others  proposed  that  March 
26  be  made  a  legal  holiday,  or  at  least  an  eight-hour  day. 
The  assembly  also  held  a  sort  of  mock  session  in  observ 
ance  of  the  senate  action. 

Finally,  on  March  26,  on  motion  of  Senator  Whitehead, 
the  stalwart  majority  in  the  senate,  after  voting  down  a 


240  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING  OF   WISCONSIN 

number  of  amendments,  concurred  in  the  assembly  bill 
with  an  amendment  by  Senator  Gaveney  that  the  main 
portion  of  the  bill  be  submitted  to  a  popular  vote  at  the 
election  to  be  held  in  November,  1904.  This  was  as  far 
as  the  stalwarts  were  willing  to  go.  The  assembly  re 
jecting  the  Gaveney  amendment,  the  bill  was  buffeted 
back  and  forth,  but  each  house  voted  to  stand  firm  and 
the  measure  had  to  be  sent  to  conference. 

However,  the  conferees  were  not  able  to  agree  on  de 
tails  and  day  after  day  went  by  until  it  was  freely  pre 
dicted  by  many  that  primary  legislation  was  dead  for 
the  session.  But  they  came  together  on  a  proposition 
to  submit  the  whole  primary  bill  to  the  voters  at  the  next 
general  election  and  on  May  20,  three  days  before  ad 
journment,  the  senate  accepted  the  amendment  and  the 
bill  went  to  the  governor  with  the  referendum  clause. 

Governor  LaFollette  had  wished  that  the  measure 
might  have  contained  a  provision  for  second  choice  vot 
ing  and  one  limiting  the  expenditures  of  candidates. 
Had  these  provisions  been  incorporated,  the  state  might 
have  been  spared  the  scandal  attending  the  election  of 
Senator  Stephenson  in  1908  and  the  Wisconsin  primary 
law  not  been  subject  to  the  criticism  and  misconstruction 
it  then  received  in  many  quarters  of  the  country  where 
the  conditions  surrounding  its  passage  were  not  known. 
However,  the  opposition  refused  to  grant  either  of  these 
propositions  and  Governor  LaFollette  finally  signed  the 
bill. 

When  the  primary  election  bill  was  in  process  of  en 
actment  the  stalwart  opposition  demanded  a  provision 
for  independent  candidates  after  the  primary  nomina 
tions  might  be  made.  Such  provision  was  incorporated 
in  the  law  and  naturally  is  as  much  a  part  of  the  law 
as  any  other,  and  its  exercise  is  as  legitimate  as  any 
other.  In  fact,  it  broadens  the  field  for  the  exercise  of 
the  primary  idea,  by  giving  the  freest  democratic  expres- 


SENSATIONAL  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1903  241 

sion  in  the  choice  of  candidates.  Yet  when  LaFollette 
has  himself  exercised  this  freest  and  legitimate  provision 
of  the  law — so  strongly  demanded  by  the  opposition- 
he  has  been  denounced  by  the  same  opposition  interests. 
The  very  thing  which  they  demanded  for  "circumvent 
ing  his  own  law ' '  they  have  criticized  him  for  employing. 
It  is  therefore  idle  and  unnecessary  to  offer  any  explana 
tions  or  apologies  for  LaFollette 's  advocacy  of  "inde 
pendents  ' '  now  and  then ;  such  course  has  been  in  accord 
with  the  very  spirit  of  the  primary  idea. 

The  primary  battle  of  this  session  may  thus  be  said 
to  have  been  a  draw,  with  a  temporary  advantage  to  the 
opposition  in  that  it  perpetuated  the  caucus  and  con 
vention  system  for  another  campaign  and  gave  the  stal 
warts  opportunity  for  another  battle  on  the  issue. 

It  was  the  plan  of  Senator  Spooner  and  the  other 
leaders  to  make  primary  elections  the  big  issue  of  the 
next  campaign.  It  was  assumed  that  LaFollette  would 
not  again  be  a  candidate  for  reelection  and  that  if  his 
program  could  be  defeated  at  this  session  and  the  pri 
mary  law  beaten  at  the  polls  in  1904,  a  quietus  would  be 
put  upon  his  agitations.  It  was  to  prove  a  bad  political 
guess.  With  the  advent  of  LaFollette  as  a  candidate 
for  a  third  term,  the  primary  election  issue  was  destined 
to  be  completely  overshadowed  in  the  larger  general  issue 
ofJJLaFolletteism." 

[  Dissatisfaction  over  the  amount  of  taxes  paid  by  the 
railroads  under  the  old  license  fee  system  had  been  of 
long  standing  in  the  minds  of  many  people  of  the  state 
and  this  dissatisfaction  had  increased  through  the  agita 
tions  of  A.  R.  Hall,  who  ever  since  his  entrance  in  the 
assembly  in  1891  had  charged  the  railroads  with  shirking 
their  full  responsibility  in  this  respect  and  had  urged  an 
increase  in  their  license  fees.  It  was  largely  because  of 
this  crusading  by  Hall  that  the  state  tax  commission  was 
finally  created.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  session  of  1903, 

"16 


242  LAFOLLETTE'S    WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

however,  the  railroad  lobby  had  succeeded  in  defeating 
all  legislation  looking  toward  an  increase  in  railroad  tax 
ation." 

When  it  was  proposed  in  the  legislature  of  1899  to 
redeem  the  party  pledge  to  increase  the  taxes  on  rail 
roads  and  other  corporations  the  lobby  succeeded  in  sub 
stituting  a  bill  to  create  a  permanent  tax  commission  on 
the  ground  that  only  through  such  a  body  could  anything 
like  a  just  and  proper  system  of  taxation  be  worked  out. 
To  the  lobby  agents,  said  LaFollette  in  his  message  of 
1903,  this  measure  "presented  the  relief  of  postpone 
ment."  Again  the  railroads  escaped  in  the  session  of 
1901  by  the  bold  and  ruthless  slaying  of  the  bills  pro 
posed  by  the  tax  commission. 

At  the  opening  of  the  session  of  1903  Governor  LaFol 
lette  made  a  firm  demand  for  ad  valorem  legislation.  In 
unequivocal  language  he  said : 

This  is  not  a  question  of  policy.  The  railroad  companies  of 
this  state  owe  the  state  more  than  $1,000,000  a  year.  For  many 
years,  because  of  the  postponement  or  defeat  of  legislation  requir 
ing  them  to  pay  their  proportionate  share  of  the  taxes,  the  other 
taxpayers  of  Wisconsin  have  paid  for  them  $1,000,000  annually. 
The  case  has  been  tried;  the  hearing  has  been  full.  Judgment 
has  been  given  again  and  again.  Pledges  have  been  made  by  po 
litical  parties  and  repeated  by  candidates  for  office,  over  and  over 
again.  The  question  is  not  an  open  one.  There  is  no  opportunity 
for  misunderstanding.  There  is  no  room  for  speculation.  The 
truth  is  ascertained.  The  truth  is  known.  It  is  lodged  in  the 
public  mind  to  stay.  The  people  want  $1,000,000  a  year  because 
it  is  the  sum  owing.  They  are  not  to  be  wheedled  'by  any  soft 
phrases  about  "conservatism."  There  is  nothing  to  compromise. 
Equal  and  just  taxation  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  republican 
government.  The  amount  due  as  taxes  from  railroads  and  other 
public  service  corporations  should  be  paid,  and  paid  in  full,  and 
I  am  confident  that  legislation  to  secure  that  payment  will  be 
promptly  enacted. 

On  January  26,  soon  after  the  opening  of  this  session, 
the  tax  commission  presented  an  elaborate  report  in 
which  that  body  also  recommended  the  adoption  of  the 


SENSATIONAL  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  1903  243 

ad  valorem  system,  after  an  exhaustive  review  of  the 
situation  with  reference  to  the  railroads.  The  sugges 
tion  was  made  by  the  commission  that  the  license  fee 
system  be  retained  for  several  years,  but  that  the  ad 
valorem  basis  should  govern  whether  the  amount  of  com 
puted  taxes  went  above  or  below  the  license  fees.  Bills 
to  this  end  were  prepared  by  the  tax  commission  and 
committees  on  taxation,  but  before  they  were  introduced 
notices  of  a  hearing  were  sent  the  presidents  of  all  the 
railroads  operating  in  the  state  with  a  request  that  they 
and  their  attorneys  attend  in  person  and  present  their 
objections,  if  any  they  had,  to  the  proposed  change. 

Such  officials  duly  appeared  at  the  hearing  and  in 
sisted  that  the  railroads  were  already  paying  more  taxes 
than  other  forms  of  property  and  that  the  ad  valorem 
system  as  tried  in  other  states  had  proved  unsatisfactory 
to  both  the  railroads  and  the  states.  Later,  the  attor 
neys  of  the  roads  presented  their  briefs  and  the  extraor 
dinary  arrogance  and  audacity  of  the  lobby  of  the 
time  was  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  brief  of  George  R. 
Peck,  chief  counsel  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
road.  A  large  portion  of  this  remarkable  paper  was 
devoted  to  hostile  animadversions  upon  the  governor  and 
the  tax  commission.  Thus  in  a  reference  to  the  governor, 
he  said: 

So  far  as  I  have  read  the  literature  of  this  subject — I  mean 
the  Wisconsin  literature — only  one  person  in  official  life  has  as 
serted  or  assumed  that  ultimate  wisdom  rests  only  in  his  own  abso 
lute  and  unerring  knowledge. 

Tnis  attack  produced  a  sensation  in  the  state  press 
and,  needless  to  say,  did  not  aid  the  cause  of  the  rail 
roads. 

On  February  13,  ad  valorem  bills,  as  prepared,  in  the 
main,  by  the  tax  commission,  were  introduced  in  both 
houses  of  the  legislature  by  the  committees  on  taxation. 

The  bills  of  the  two  houses  differed  in  some  respects, 
the  assembly  measure  providing,  for  instance,  that  the 


244  LAFOLLETTE  's     WINNING     OF     WISCONSIN 

ad  valorem  system  go  into  effect  in  1903,  while  the  senate 
bill  postponed  the  operation  for  a  year.  The  senate 
bill  also  provided  for  the  exemption  of  railroad  bonds 
from  taxation,  while  the  house  measure  had  no  such  pro 
vision.  The  tax  commission  was  divided  on  the  latter 
proposition,  N.  P.  Haugen,  a  member  of  the  commission, 
standing  out  against  such  exemption  on  the  grounds 
that  credits  were  property,  that  111  no  other  state  were 
they  exempted  and  that  such  exemptions  would  be  a  step 
without  precedent. 

The  senate  bill  was  never  to  emerge  from  committee 
until  withdrawn,  weeks  afterward,  by  unanimous  con 
sent;  but  the  assembly  bill  was  passed  unanimously 
March  6  and  messaged  to  the  senate.  Here  the  bill  was 
amended  so  as  to  exempt  railroad  bonds  and  to  postpone 
the  operation  of  the  law  for  a  year.  This  change  pro 
duced  a  long  deadlock  in  conference. 
/In  the  meantime  the  ad  valorem  issue  had  become 
overshadowed  by  the  great  fight  over  the  railway  com 
mission  bill  which  had  been  introduced  in  the  assembly 
the  same  day  the  ad  valorem  bill  was  passed,  March  6. 

But  distasteful  as  both  measures  wrere  to  the  railroads, 
it  was  felt  even  by  the  supporters  of  the  railroads  in  the 
legislature  that  some  legislation  on  the  subject  of  taxa 
tion  was  imperative.  Governor  LaFollette  was  thunder 
ing  for  action,  as  was  a  large  portion  of  the  state  press. 

The  tax  commission  having  recommended  the  ad  val 
orem  system,  the  stalwart  leaders  felt  that  the  ad  valorem 
bill  could  not  be  so  safely  slaughtered  as  the  railway 
commission  bill  urged  by  the  governor.  But  the  railroad 
managers  saw  more  than  this.  To  them  it  appeared  both 
good  politics  and  good  policy  to  accept  the  ad  valorem 
measure  if  the  rate  commission  bill  could  be  killed. 
Accordingly  the  rate  commission  bill  was  brought  for- 
wkrd  and  indefinitely  postponed  and^the  senate  then 
permitted  the  ad  valorem  bill  to  go  through  as  a  conces- 


SENSATIONAL  LEGISLATIVE  SESSION  OF  19U:; 


24.1 


sion  to  a  popular  demand  that  could  no  longer  be  resisted, 
it  being  charged  at  the  time  that  a  railroad  attorney  so 
advised,  and  that  he  added,  significantly,  that  with  the 
commission  bill  beaten  the  railroads  could  get  the  in 
creased  taxes  back  by  simply  raising  their  rates.  In  the 
meantime  the  conferees  had  made  mutual  concessions, 
the  senate  members  finally  withdrawing  their  demand 
for  the  exemption  of  railroad  bonds,  and  the  assembly 
members  consenting  to  postpone  the  application  of  the 
ad  valorem  system  for  a  year. 

Thus  the  railroads  who  had  so  long  cleverly  prevented 
an  increase  in  their  taxes  escaped  for  another  year,'  and 
likewise  the  state  was  again  beaten  out  of  what  the  ad 
ministration  insisted  was  its  just  dues. 


Mrs.   LaFollette   Speaking- 


CHAPTER  XVII 
Railroad  Commission  Bill. 

BECOMES  NEW  ISSUE — LAST  BIG  LEGISLATIVE  BATTLE  OF  LA 
FOLLETTE  REGIME — SPIRITED  COMMITTEE  HEARINGS — GOVERNOR 
SUBMITS  LONG  SPECIAL  MESSAGE — GREAT  GATHERING  OF  SHIPPERS 
APPEARS  IN  PROTEST — BRILLIANT  NIGHT  DEBATE — MEASURE 
KILLED — RAILROAD  "RED  LINE"  INCIDENT — GREAT  POWER  OF 
LOBBY  SHOWN. 

IN  EXT  in  interest  in  this  session  to  the  battle  over  the 
primary  election  bill — if  indeed  not  exceeding  this  strug 
gle  in  intensity  and  significance — was  the  contest  over 
the  railway  commission  bill.  If  not  the  greatest,  it  was 
the  last  and  most  fiercely  contested  of  the  big  legislative 
battles  of  the  LaFollette  regime  and  was  replete  with 
dramatic  features.  The  battle  was  fought  out  wholly  in 
the  assembly,  the  measure  never  coming  before  the 
senate. 

._It  was  LaFollette 's  masterly  move  in  pressing  this 
new  issue  that  made  practically  untenable  the  position  of 
the  stalwarts  on  the  primary  election  and  ad  valorem 
measures.  '  It  upset  all  their  previous  calculations,  called 
for  new  alignments,  and  promised  a  new  issue,  to  meet 
which  it  would  be  necessary  to  abandon  everything  else. 

{In  line  with  the  recommendations  of  Governor  LaFol 
lette 's  message,  the  assembly  committee  on  railroads  on 
March  6  introduced  a  bill  creating  an  appointive  com 
mission  with  large  powers,  including  that  of  the  fixing 
of  railroad  rates.  The  original  measure  provided  that 
the  rates  then  in  effect  should  remain  as  the  maximum 
rates  until  changed  by  the  commission,  but  following  the 
hearings  the  committee  presented  a  substitute  more 
drastic  than  the  original^  requiring  the  commission  to 
fix  and  establish  new  rates..  The  law  as  finally  enacted 
in  1905  was  in  effect  the  original  bill  of  1903,  providing 


RAILROAD  COMMISSION  BILL 


247 


for  an  appointive  commission  with  powers  to  regulate 
rates  instead  of  inaugurating  an  entire  new  set  of  rates. 
The  battle  lines  quickly  formed  on  this  newest  "  men 
ace  to  business"  by  the  administration.  Dramatic  scenes 
marked  the  hearings  on  the  measure.  Once  T.  C.  Rich 
mond  of  Madison — then  an  ardent  progressive — in  ap 
pearing  before  the  committee  in  behalf  of  certain  ship 
pers  of  dairy  products,  told  how  a  man  in  Shawano  had 
found  it  necessary  to  go  to  Chicago  to  ascertain  from 
the  railroads  if  he  would  be  given  a  rate  by  which  he 
could  meet  competition.  Mr.  Richmond  denounced  a 
condition  that  made  it  possible  for  railroads  to  thus  dic 
tate  the  life  or  death  of  individuals  and  towns.  Rich 
mond  declining  to  give  the  names  of  his  informants, 
Burton  Hanson,  attorney  for  the  St.  Paul  railroad,  de 
clared  his  belief  that  no  such  statements  had  been  made, 
whereupon  the  fiery  Madison  lawyer  advanced  upon 
him  and  shaking  his  fist  in  the  railroad  attorney's  face 
shouted:  "The  gentleman  has  passed  a  remark  that 


Old  Assembly  Chamber  of  Wisconsin  Capitol 


248  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

he  wouldn  't  dare  to  repeat  in  the  open. ' '  Hired  claquers 
were  even  employed,  it  was  said,  to  create  applause  when 
ever  the  railroad  attorneys  made  a  telling  point. 

\J"he  stalwart  members  of  the  legislature  professed  to 
be  greatly  opposed  to  the  appointive  feature  of  the  pro 
posed  commission  law,  and  at  this  session,  and  in  the 
campaign  following,  persistently  urged  an  elective  com 
mission;  but  Governor  LaFollette  and  his  supporters 
were  determined  that  if  the  commission  measure  became 
law  it  should  be  administered  by  a  picked  body  of  men 
from  whom  the  best  results  might  be  expected  in  the 
effort  to  make  the  law  a  successj 

This  view  was  abundantly  justified  in  the  excellent  ap 
pointments  made  by  Governor  LaFollette  in  the  com 
mission  as  originally  formed.  On  April  28,  before  a 
vote  had  been  taken  on  the  measure,  Governor  LaFol 
lette  again  appeared  and  read  a  lengthy  special  message 
of  over  one  hundred  pages,  fortified  by  seventy-five  more 
pages  of  statistics,  in  support  of  the  bill,  to  prove  that 
Wisconsin  was  paying  higher  freight  rates  than  Illinois 
or  Iowa,  which  states  had  rate  commissions. 

In  this  message,  as  in  his  previous  one,  the  governor 
took  occasion  to  speak  to  the  larger  ear  of  the  nation 
by  a  caustic  discussion  of  the  limited  powers  of  the  in 
terstate  commerce  commission.  The  railroad  attorneys 
who  had  opposed  the  rate  bill  had  declared  that  the  ex 
isting  laws  of  the  state  fully  protected  the  people  against 
transportation  abuses  and  had  kept  pace  with  interstate 
commerce  legislation.  After  pointing  out  in  sarcastic 
and  pitying  phrase  the  then  very  small  powers  of  the 
interstate  commerce  commission,  the  governor  said  in 
reference  to  his  own  state : 

In  truth  and  in  fact  the  Wisconsin  statutes  and  the  authority 
of  the  railroad  commissioner  stand  today  a  shame  and  a  reproach 
to  a  state  of  Wisconsin's  industrial  and  commercial  rank. 

The  lobby  was  sharply  scored,  the  governor  declaring 
that  an  organ i/ation  was  formed  before  the  legislature 


RAILROAD  COMMISSION  BILL  249 

met  for  the  purpose  not  only  of  defeating  this  legisla 
tion,  but  of  defeating  any  attempt  to  pass  a  bill  increas 
ing  the  taxes  upon  railroads.  The  logical  sequence,  he 
said,  would  mean  an  increase  in  rates.  The  shippers 
who  opposed  the  legislation,  he  charged,  were  acting 
under  direction  of  the  railroads.  The  shippers  might  be 
satisfied,  he  said,  but  the  people  of  the  state  would  never 
be  until  they  were  placed  upon  an  equal  footing. 

At  this  fresh  and  emphatic  insistence  on  rate  legisla 
tion  the  railroad  lobby  sent  out  a  cry  of  alarm  and  the 
next  day  the  largest  gathering  of  citizens  ever  assembled 
in  Madison  in  active  connection  with  legislation  ap 
peared  in  the  form  of  shippers  from  all  over  the  state, 
come  at  the  behest  of  the  railroads  to  protest  against  the 
passage  of  the  bill. 

The  shippers  met  in  the  senate  chamber  and  after  due 
discussion  adopted  a  formal  protest  which  had  been 
drawn  up,  and  this  protest  signed  by  164  firms  and  indi 
viduals  was  laid  on  the  desk  of  every  member.  They 
also  joined  with  the  lobby  in  an  actiye  canvass  among 
the  legislators  to  secure  the  defeat  of  the  bill.  To  give 
significance  to  the  occasion  the  great  Senator  Spooner, 
fresh  from  the  prestige  of  a  unanimous  re-election  at 
the  hands  of  both  administration  and  stalwart  members, 
arrived  in  Madison  that  day  and  gave  added  heart  and 
exaltation  to  the  opposition. 

The  protest  of  the  shippers  contained  among  other 
things  the  following  statements : 

To  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin: 

We  respectfully  but  most  earnestly  protest  against  the  passage 
of  the  railway  commission  bill,  and,  in  support  of  our  position, 
beg  leave  to  invite  your  attention  to  the  reasons  for  such  opposi 
tion. 

Wisconsin  is  a  manufacturing  and  producing  state.  Its  farms, 
its  factories,  its  mines,  and  its  forests  are  the  sources  of  its  wealth 
and  its  greatness.  Any  legislation,  the  tendency  of  which  will  be 
to  jeopardize  or  harass  these  interests,  is  not  deserving  of  the 
support  of  any  citizen  who  has  the  welfare  of  the  state  at  heart. 


250  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

The  producers  of  Wisconsin  have,  after  many  years  of  labor  and 
effort,  succeeded  in  bringing  about  the  adoption  by  the  railroad 
companies  of  the  state  of  such  commodity,  group  and  concentra 
tion  rates  as  are  best  fitted  to  develop  their  business  interests  and 
promote  the  growth  of  the  state.  This  has  been  accomplished 
with  the  least  injury  to  any  of  the  interests  of  the  state;  indeed 
it  has  resulted  to  the  general  benefit  of  all.  In  dependence  upon 
these  rates,  large  investments  have  been  made,  great  manufactur 
ing  and  shipping  industries  have  been  built  up,  and  plans  per 
fected  which  will  materially  aid  in  the  future  growth  of  the  state. 

We  believe  that  any  attempt  to  disturb  this  system  of  trans 
portation  rates  will  unsettle  the  business  affairs  of  the  state,  en 
danger  investments,  and  interfere  with  the  development  of  our 
industries. 

If  those  who  are  in  charge  of  the  business  interests  of  the 
state  are  satisfied  with  the  present  rates  of  transportation,  it 
would  seem  that  those  who  manage  the  politics  of  the  state  ought 
to  be  satisfied,  and  not  interfere  or  attempt  to  interfere  in  our 
business  affairs.  We  know  whereof  we  speak.  We  know  that 
the  pending  bill  is  a  menace  to  our  business,  and  to  the  general 
welfare  of  the  state. 

In  view  of  the  splendid  results  that  have  followed  the 
adoption  of  the  rate  commission  law,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  in  this  connection  that  in  the  following  year-  another 
protest  was  issued  signed  by  sixty-three  leading  manu 
facturers.  That  address  contained,  among  other  things, 
the  following  : 

The  proposition  to  have  enacted  in  this  state  laws  *  *  * 
conferring  power  upon  a  board  of  railway  commissioners  to  pre 
scribe  a  schedule  of  rates  under  which  all  the  traffic  of  the  state 
shall  be  moved,  will,  if  carried  out,  be  fraught  with  dire  results 
to  our  manufacturing  interests.  Under  the  present  system  of 
transportation  rates  in  use  in  this  state  for  many  years,  the  ma 
terial  interests  in  our  farms,  mines,  factories  and  forests  have 
enjoyed  a  well-balanced  and  great  prosperity,  in  marked  contrast 
with  the  state  of  Iowa,  where  under  a  system  of  inflexible  distance 
tariff  rates  fixed  by  a  commission,  the  business  of  manufacturing 
bas  languished,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  people  and  to  the 
state  at  large. 

Under  the  present  method  of  adjusting  rates,  and  after  long 
and  continued  effort  on  the  part  of  our  manufacturers,  in  which 
the  transportation  companies  have  willingly  joined,  a  system  of 


RAILROAD  COMMISSION  BILL  251 

freight  tariffs  has  been  built  up  in  Wisconsin  which  enables  the 
manufacturers  doing  business  in  the  various  centers  of  the  state, 
to  secure  their  raw  material  and  to  reach  the  distributing  centers, 
or  gateways  of  the  country,  with  their  finished  products  on  sub 
stantially  even  terms,  thereby  enabling  them  to  compete  with  each 
other,  as  well  as  with  the  manufacturers  of  other  states  located 
more  conveniently  to  the  markets. 

The  policy  of  equalizing  carrying  charges  between  points 
within  the  state,  and  from  points  in  this  state  to  distributing 
centers  or  gateways  outside  of  the  state,  has  encouraged,  and  is 
encouraging  the  location  of  manufacturing  plants  and  centers  at 
places  widely  separated  throughout  the  state,  thus  aiding  in  a 
healthy  and  widespread  development  of  all  resources,  resulting  in 
great  and  inestimable  benefit  to  all  of  our  people. 

The  attempted  rearrangement  by  a  railway  commission  of  the 
freight  tariffs  and  system,  so  built  up  and  developed,  would  result 
in  widespread  disturbance  to  business  interests;  continued  uncer 
tainty  as  to  rates,  and  the  financial  run  of  many  of  our  industries, 
the  very  existence  of  which  is  almost  wholly  dependent  upon  the 
undisturbed  continuance  of  the  present  system. 

The  great  power  of  the  highly  organized  lobby  of  the 
time  was  to  be  proved  in  the  overwhelming  defeat  of  the 
bill.  The  measure  came  up  as  special  order  at  10  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  April  30,  and  was  debated  until  after 
midnight.  Great  crowds  were  attracted  to  the  capitol  to 
witness  the  brilliant  struggle  and  joined  feverishly  in 
the  excitement  prevailing. 

Leading  the  fight  for  the  measure  were  Speaker  Len- 
root,  Assemblyman  J.  A.  Frear  of  Hudson,  and  Chair 
man  C.  W.  Oilman  of  Mondovi,  of  the  assembly  commit 
tee  on  railroads,  others  who  took  the  floor  for  the  bill 
being  Assemblymen  David  Evans,  Jr.,  of  Waushara, 
A.  H.  Dahl  of  Vernon  county,  Henry  Johnson  of  Oconto, 
O.  G.  Kinney,  who  had  succeded  A.  R.  Hall,  W.  L.  Root 
of  Ap.pleton,  W.  S.  Irvine  of  Clark,  and  E.  W.  LeRoy  of 
Marinette,  while  speaking  in  opposition  were  Assembly 
men  Frank  A.  Cady  of  Marshfield,  a  former  administra 
tion  floor  leader,  who  surprised  his  colleagues  by  going 
over  to  the  other  side;  A.  L.  Osborn,  a  lumberman  of 


252  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

Iron  county ;  W.  C.  Cowling  of  Oshkosh,  Charles  Barker 
of  Milwaukee,  and  M.  J.  Wallrich  of  Shawano. 

Conscious  of  its  power  to  kill  the  measure,  the  opposi 
tion  voted  down  all  amendments,  including  one  by  As 
semblyman  Torger  G.  Thompson  of  Dane  county,  for  an 
elective  commission  and  one  by  Assemblyman  LeRoy  for 
a  referendum.  Then  came  the  defeat  of  the  committee 
substitute  and  finally,  when  it  was  seen  the  measure  was 
doomed,  the  killing  of  the  bill  by  a  vote  of  67  to  25,  on 
motion  of  former  Speaker  Ray  of  LaCrosse. 

The  rate  regulation  question  thus  went  over  to  become 
one  of  the  burning  issues  of  the  next  campaign. 

Attention  has  been  called  to  the  action  of  certain  ship 
pers  in  the  campaign  of  1904  in  continuing  their  opposi 
tion  to  a  commission  law.  A  further  observation  may 
be  made. 

When  the  rate  commission  bill  again  came  up  in  the 
session  of  1905  these  same  protesting  shippers  who  had 
been  as  the  leaves  of  the  forest  at  the  previous  session 
failed  to  reappear  at  Madison,  and  thereby  hangs  a  tale. 

Among  the  few  bills  affecting  the  railroads  which, 
slipped  through  at  the  session  of  1903  was  one  in  re 
sponse  to  a  special  message  by  Governor  LaFollette 
authoring  the  railroad  commissioner  to  make  an  investi 
gation  of  the  books  of  the  railroad  companies  operating 
in  the  state  to  ascertain  if  the  companies  had  included 
in  their  reports  of  gross  earnings  the  rebates  they  had 
been  giving  for  years  back.  The  governor  held  that 
such  rebates  should  be  included  in  the  gross  earnings 
and  be  subject  to  tax.  Although  a  sensation  was  created 
by  the  message,  the  bill  was  allowed  to  go  through. 
After  due  examination  Railroad  Commissioner  Thomas 
reported  the  following  year  the  discovery  that  rebates 
to  the  amount  of  $4,500,000  had  been  given  by  the  rail 
roads  to  favored  shippers.  Sprung  at  a  psychological 
moment  in  the  sharp  campaign  of  1904,  this' revelation 


RAILROAD  COMMISSION  BILL  253 

bore  immediate  political  results,   but  was  to  prove  of 
further  significance  later. 

In  his  message  at  the  following  session  the  governor 
briefly  observed  that  all  shippers  were  entitled  to  pro 
tection  against  extortion  from  the  railroads,  but  were 
any  shippers  voluntarily  aiding  the  railroads  in  the 
maintenance  of  high  rates  in  order  that  they  might 
themselves  receive  lower  rates,  then  the  public  was  en 
titled  to  protection  against  such  shippers. 

Believing  that  the  governor  had  obtained  the  names  of 
those  who  had  been  favored  in  the  matter  of  rebates,  no 
shippers  appeared  at  the  next  session  to  oppose  rate 
regulation. 

In  retreat,  as  it  were,  after  this  rate  commission  battle, 
Governor  LaFollette  turned  suddenly,  and  in  an  attack 
from  an  unexpected  quarter  appeared  to  the  startled 
opposition  for  a  time  to  be  in  a  fair  way  of  changing  de 
feat  into  victory.  This  move  was  his  attempted  check 
mating  of  the  so-called  "railroads'  red  line,"  and  illus 
trated  the  resourcefulness  of  the  governor. 
^While  the  railroad  ad  valorem  bill  was  pending  in  the 
senate  the  state  board  of  control  advertised  for  bids  for 
coal  for  the  state  penal  and  charitable  institutions.  In 
their  bids  the  coal  companies  inserted  a  provision  under 
scored  in  red  that  such  contracts  were  subject  to  changes 
that  might  be  made  in  freight  rates  through  pending 
legislation.  Immediately  upon  receipt  of  this  informa 
tion  Governor  LaFollette  sent  a  special  message  to  the 
legislature  recommending  the  prompt  enactment  of  a 
law  to  prevent  any  increase  in  transportation  charges  by 
the  railroads  in  Wisconsin  above  those  in  force  on  June 
15  preceding.  Calling  attention  to  the  action  of  the  coal 
companies,  Governor  LaFollette  charged  that  they  had 
1 '  received  suggestions  from  railroad  officials ' '  and  said  : 

A  study  o£  the  transportation  charges  in  this  state  throughout 
the  years  covered  by  the  efforts  made  to  increase  railroad  taxation 
will  show  such  advance  as  leaves  little  doubt  that  there  has  been 


254  LAFOLLETTE 'S     WINNING     OF     WISCONSIN 

upon  the  part  of  the  railroads  a  forehanded  determination  to  be 
prepared  against  legislation  equalizing  taxation. 

A  bill  to  meet  the  governor's  recommendations  was 
promptly  introduced  by  the  assembly  committee  on  rail 
roads.  The  railroad  lobby  was  astounded  by  the  bold 
ness  and  rapidity  of  these  moves.  Were  this  bill  to  pass 
the  recent  clef  eat  of  the  rate  commission  bill  might  prove 
largely  a  barren  victory.  It  would  prevent  the  raising 
of  rates  by  which  the  railroads  hoped  to  render  harmless 
the  ad  valorem  bill,.'  Accordingly  the  lobby  moved  in 
force  upon  the  assembly. 

A  year  or  two  ago,  a  former  assemblyman  while  en 
gaged  in  destroying  old  papers  came  upon  a  mass  of 
telegrams.  "I  think  I  shall  have  to  keep  these,"  he 
said  smiling.  ' '  They  remind  me  of  the  morning  when  we 
passed  the  maximum  red-line  freight  bill  and  when  our 
mail  boxes  were  so  stuffed  with  telegrams  of  protest 
against  the  bill  that  there  was  no  room  for  our  letters. ' ' 
These  telegrams  apparently  came  largely  from  the 
very  shippers  who  had  recently  fought  the  rate  com 
mission  bill  and  who  now  appeared  to  take  the  very 
strange  position  of  opposing  a  law  to  prevent  the  raising 
of  their  own  rates.  However,  the  telegrams  were  largely 
of  a  "fake"  nature,  uniform  in  style,  and  many  were 
afterwards  repudiated  by  shippers  whose  names  they 
professed  to  bear.  Indeed  at  a  political  meeting  the  fol 
lowing  year  one  assemblyman  (Finnegan)  produced  a 
Iiandful  of  telegrams  from  certain  shippers  favoring  the 
bill  and  another  handful  opposing  the  measure,  and 
signed  by  the  same  shippers,  all  bearing  the  same  date. 
;  To  the  surprise  of  everyone  the  assembly  passed  the 
bill,  and  without_debate,  May  12,  by  a  vote  of  55  to  37, 
at  practically  the  same  hour  of  the  day  that  the  senate 
concurred  in  the  ad  valorem  bill.  The  railroad  attor 
neys  then  promptly  shifted  their  attentions  to  the  senate 
where  they  saved  the  day  by  bringing  about  the  defeat  of 
the  bill  by  a  vote  of  20  to  10,  also  without  debate. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Incidents  of  Session  of  1903. 

EE-ELECTION  OF  SENATOR  SPOONER — PRESIDENT  KOOSEVELT 
VISITS  CAPITAL— A  PERIOD  OF  TEEMING  ACTIVITY— WALWORTH 
COUNTY  POLITICS  EEVIEWED. 

BESIDES  its  great  legislative  battles  the  session  of 
1903  was  replete  with  other  incidents  of  a  more  or  less 
extraordinary  nature. 

On  January  28,  John  C.  Spooner  was  re-elected  United 
States  senator,  receiving  the  unanimous  republican  vote. 
Naturally  this  was  made  a  state  occasion  and  party  and 
factional  differences  were  laid  aside  to  give  him  honor 
on  his  appearance  to  accept  the  election.  In  view  of  the 
fact  that  this  election  had  followed  his  announcement 
that  he  would  not  again  be  a  candidate,  which  had  proved 
a  nine-day  wonder  of  the  time,  and  of  the  controversy- 
necessary  or  otherwise — which  had  been  waged  over  him 
for  the  past  two  years,  unusual  interest  attached  in  his 
appearance.  This  was  further  heightened  by  the  pres 
ence  of  Governor  LaFollette,  members  of  the  legislature 
and  the  supreme  court.  As  the  cynosure  of  a  crowded 
chamber  of  men  and  women,  and  with  his  political  op.- 
ponents  before  him,  the  senator  labored  under  tre 
mendous  stress  and  the  speech  which  he  held  in  his  hand 
trembled  like  a  leaf  throughout  its  delivery. 

*     *     * 

Believing  for  a  space  the  factional  tension  of  the  time, 
was  a  visit  to  the  capital  by  President  Roosevelt,  with 
the  usual  ovation  from  the  citizens  and  an  address  to 
the  legislature  as  incidents. 

On  a  previous  occasion  when  Roosevelt  had  come  to 
the  city  to  speak  before  the  State  Historical  Society  he 
had  been  a  guest  at  the  LaFollette  home,  yet  on  this  occa- 


256  L.\FOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

sion  it  was  attempted  to  show  that  the  governor  was 
not  very  enthusiastic  over  the  strenuous  executive,  and 
in  fact  suspected  the  president's  sincerity. 

In  his  introduction  of  the  president,  Governor  LaFol- 
lette  said:  "The  people  are  for  you  because  they  be 
lieve  you  are  the  exponent,  the  fearless  exponent,  of  that 
principle  (Lincoln's)  in  this  country." 

The  stalwart  press  noted  that  LaFollette  said  not  "you 
are,"  but  "they  believe  you  are,  etc."  Accordingly,  he 
was  charged  with  doubting  the  president's  sincerity.  It 
illustrated  the  fierceness  of  the  light  beating  upon  the 
governor's  every  action. 

This  session  was  to  witness,  also,  the  grand  culmina 
tion  of  the  old-time  lobby  in  its  extraordinary  influence 
and  power.  Prof.  E.  A.  Ross — evidently  forgetting  the 
reconstruction  period — recently  gave  the  view  that  the 
year  1903  was  the  nadir  of  our  national  political  life; 
with  almost  equal  truth  the  same  might  be  said  of  Wis 
consin  politics  of  the  period. 

Other  legislatures  may  have  been  marked  by  more  dis 
creditable  subserviency  to  the  lobby,  greater  pliancy  to 
the  influence  of  money,  but  the  moral  issues  being  not 
then  so  sharply  drawn  their  practices  were  accepted  as 
a  matter  of  course.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  issues 
were  more  clearly  presented  in  its  day,  the  legislature  of 
1903  has  a  sordid  record  to  defend.  However,  when  it 
is  remembered  that  for  number,  boldness  and  effrontery 
the  lobby  of  this  session  probably  surpassed  any  other 
in  the  state's  history,  its  influence  should  not  occasion 
wonder.  In  numbers  it  far  exceeded  the  legislature  it 
self.  Some  idea  of  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  this  potent 
"third  house"  may  be  drawn  from  the  fact  that  M.  C. 
King,  attorney  for  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  railroad, 
swore  to  an  expenditure  by  his  company  alone  for  salaries 
and  other  expenses  for  the  session  of  $6,931.93.  It  is 


INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903  257 

known  also  that  statements  of  lobby  expenditures  of  that 
period  were  notoriously  incomplete. 

In  addition  to  killing  the  rate  commission  bill  and  the 
maximum  freight  bill,  the  lobby  had  a  number  of  other 
notable  victories  to  its  credit  at  this  session.  Among 
such  may  be  cited  the  defeat  of  the  Irvine  anti-lobby 
bill,  the  grain  inspection  bill,  the  bill  to  prohibit  rail 
roads  from  granting  rebates,  the  two-cent  railroad  fare 
bill  and  the  Donald  telephone  bill  aimed  to  prohibit  the 
Bell  telephone  company's  practice  of  giving  low  rates 
to  crush  out  independent  competition  where  such  existed 
and  making  up  the  loss  by  increased  rates  \vhere  it  en 
joyed  a  monopoly.  All  these  measures  went  down  to 
death.  In  the  interests  of  the  food  adulterators,  the 
lobby  was  also  active  in  opposing  all  pure  food  legisla 
tion  attempted  at  this  session. 

This  record  was  doubtless  responsible  for  the  enact 
ment  by  the  next  legislature  of  the  anti-lobby  law,  re 
quiring  registration  on  the  part  of  all  legislative  agents 
and  interests  employing  them  and  limiting  their  activities 
to  arguments  before  committees. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  employment  of  a 
woman  to  help  defeat  the  railway  taxation  bill  in  the 
session  of  1901.  There  were  other  instances  of  the  use 
of  women's  wiles  to  bring  about  results.  In  the  good 
old  days  when  the  third  house  was  at  its  height  in  num 
bers  and  influence  there  was  usually  a  generous  sprin 
kling  about  the  statehouse  of  daughters  of  the  gods  di 
vinely  tall,  and  correspondingly  alluring,  and  not  infre 
quently  they  were  employed  as  factors  in  influencing 
legislation. 

"I  noticed  you  refused  to  speak  to  me  last  night," 
said  one  Wisconsin  solon  to  another  after  a  meeting  at 
a  restaurant  where  each  had  been  accompanied  by  a 
peroxide  blonde.  "Yes,"  replied  Solon  No.  2,  with  con- 


17 


258  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

summate  gravity,  "I  was  afraid  my  wife  might  not  care 
to  meet  the  lady  with  you." 

In  one  of  the  sessions  of  this  period  also  occurred  the 
hatpin  episode,  whose  story  went  its  frequent  and  jesting 
round  at  the  time  and  which  scarcely  deserves  notice 
now  save  as  illustrative  of  the  practices  of  the  time  and 
because  of  its  direct  influence  upon  the  legislation  of  the 
session. 

Among  the  legislators  was  a  certain  administration 
member  whose  feet  were  not  of  too  enduring  material. 
Either  in  a  spirit  of  sport  or  of  machiavelian  design 
someone  conceived  the  idea  of  winning  him  over  by 
throwing  an  unprincipled  woman  across  his  path.  It 
was  arranged  with  the  woman  that  while  posing  at  a 
mirror  with  him  by  her  side  passing  upon  her  appear 
ance  she  should,  seemingly  by  accident,  scratch  him 
across  the  cheek  with  a  hatpin.  The  pact  was  carried 
out  and  the  legislator  duly  appeared  with  a  scratch  across 
his  cheek.  The  conspirators  immediately  surrounded 
him  and  in  seeming  solicitude  asked  the  cause  of  his  acci 
dent.  He  explained  that  he  had  fallen  against  a  sharp 
corner  of  his  dresser.  A  loud  guffaw  greeted  his  answer. 
''Ha!  ha!  ha!"  came  in  a  chorus;  "well,  old  boy,  the 
drinks  are  on  you,  but  we'll  pass  you  up  this  time  if 
you'll  vote  right  on  the  railroad  bill  when  it  comes  up. 
Oh,  you  can't  explain;  we've  heard  all  about  it  and — 
we  can  produce  the  woman.  We  've  got  the  goods  on  you. 
You  surely  don't  want  to  scandalize  yourself  'and  your 
family?"  He  voted  against  the  bill.  The  reprehensible 
little  ruse  had  worked.  But  his  conscience  worrying 
him  at  the  betrayal  of  his  pledges,  he  finally  made  a  full 
explanation  of  the  affair  to  Governor  LaFollette.  ' '  You 
should  have  called  their  bluff, ' '  said  the  governor  grimly, 
' '  and  seen  if  they  had  dared  carry  out  their  hellish  plot 
to  the  end.  I  doubt  if  the  cowards  had." 

The  so-called  Anna  Held  incident  may  be  here  cited 


INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903  259 

also,  since  it  was  one  that  attained  to  a  somewhat  tena 
cious  celebrity.  Four  senators  and  one  assemblyman 
set  out  one  evening  to  enjoy  a  lark  in  the  manner  of  the 
time.  When  a  mildly  mellow  stage  had  been  reached, 
they  repaired  in  a  body  to  the  Fuller  opera  house  where 
Anna  Held  and  her  troupe  were  holding  the  boards  that 
night.  To  the  better  enjoy  the  occasion,  the  party  took 
a  box  and  in  the  course  of  the  performance  flirted  furi 
ously  with  "the  nymphic  Anna  of  the  ambient  eyes" 
and  her  Ionic-shaped  sisters.  The  student  stage  doqr 
johnnies  on  this  occasion  must  have  been  quickly  put 
hors  de  combat  by  these  veterans,  for  it  was  not  long 
before  this  legislative  coterie  was  snugly  ensconced  in  the 
room  of  one  of  the  senators  and  about  a  table  whose 
graceful  setting  included  a  bevy  of  dimpled  divinities 
from  the  visiting  troupe.  The  subsequent  jollity  reached 
an  altitudinous  state,  so  high  in  fact  that  the  night  oper 
ator  in  the  telephone  office  overhead  becamejilarmed  and 
called  up  the  police  station,  declaring  that  she  feared  a 
tragedy  was  being  enacted  below  her,  judging  from  the 
screams  that  she  heard.  Eespoiiding  to  the  riot  call,  the 
police  burst  in  upon  the  revel  to  the  consternation  of  the 
participants  and  broke  it  up,  in  the  course  of  which  pro 
ceeding  it  became  necessary  to  tap  one  of  the  senators 
with  a  billy.  News  of  the  occurrence  leaked  out  next 
day  and  made  one  of  the  "biggest  stories"  Winter 
Everett  ever  "pulled  off." 

The  distinction  thus  earned  clung  for  years  to  the  par 
ticipants,  to  which  a  tantalizing  opposition  press  loved 
to  refer  as  the  * '  Anna  Held  legislators. ' '  One  develop 
ment  of  the  affair  was  a  libel  suit  brought  against  the 
Free  Press  by  one  Milwaukee  member  whose  name  the 
paper  had  erroneously  used  in  connection  with  the  affair. 
The  manner  in  which  this  suit  was  suppressed  because  of 
subsequent  investigation  made  by  "Bill"  Powell  forms 
one  of  the  most  incredulous,  thrilling  and  amusing  stories 
in  the  private  annals  of  the  craft. 


260  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

A  tragic  episode  which  gives  some  idea  of  the  tenseness 
of  feeling  and  keenness  of  rivalry  between  the  factions 
at  this  time  is  recalled.  During  the  crisis  of  a  very  im 
portant  measure  one  member  of  the  legislature,  who  had 
been  counted  an  administration  supporter,  was  called 
home  by  a  death  in  his  family.  On  his  return  to  Madi 
son  he  was  met  at  the  station  by  a  number  of  his  stal 
wart  colleagues  and  told,  according  to  the  story  soon 
afterward  current,  that  a  certain  mortgage  upon  his  farm 
would  be  extended,  but  the  bill  in  question  must  first  be 
killed.  The  news  that  he  had  been  taken  in  tow  by  the 
opposition  was  conveyed  to  Governor  LaFollette,  who 
suspecting  something  was  wrong  sent  for  the  member. 
It  was  after  midnight  and  the  poor  old  farmer,  crushed 
with  grief  and  beaten  down  and  bewildered  by  the  im- 
portunations  of  the  stalwarts,  presented  a  sorry  spec 
tacle.  The  governor  inquired  kindly  regarding  his  fam 
ily  affairs  and  finally  adverted  to  the  bill  in  question, 
whereupon  the  old  man  burst  into  tears  and  informed 
the  governor  that  he  had  promised  to  vote  against  the 
measure.  "But  you  first  promised  me  to  vote  for  it?" 
said  the  governor.  "I  know  it  is  wrong,"  said  the  old 
man,  "but  they  have  got  me  where  they  can  ruin  me. 
It  is  a  case  of  life  and  death  with  me,  almost. ' '  The  old 
man  walked  out  in  silence.  It  was  one  of  those  tragedies 
that  drove  the  iron  into  men 's  souls. 

*     *     * 

If  the  sentiment  expressed  by  Byron,  "One  glorious 
hour  of  crowded  fame  is  worth  an  age  without  a  name, ' ' 
ever  appealed  to  LaFollette  it  must  have  come  to  him 
with  peculiar  force  in  those  history-making  days,  for 
events  fairly  trod  one  another's  heels.  The  executive 
office  was  not  only  the  political  nerve-center  of  the  state, 
but  a  decidedly  sensitive  and  active  one.  Frequently  the 
lights  would  be  seen  blinking  from  its  windows  all  night 
long.  At  this  spectacle  the  opposition  stalwart  leaders 


^INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903  261 

would  gaze  in  rueful  speculation  and  apprehension.  Too 
often  it  meant  that  some  sledgehammer  blow  was  about 
to  descend  upon  them  in  some  unexpected  quarter,  some 
coup  at  some  unguarded  point  that  would  leave  their 
hopes  high  and  dry. 

As  with  Caesar,  of  whom  it  is  related  that  he  could 
defer  sleep  to  extraordinary  lengths  when  necessary  and  ; 
then  take  it  in  snatches,  on  horseback,  beside  campfires, 
in  the  rain,  so  with  LaFollette.  It  came  to  be  said  of 
him  that  he  didn't  sleep,  but  simply  assumed  another 
position.  Even  in  his  earlier  days,  in  the  practice  of 
the  law,  he  would  often  remain  with  a  case  until  he  had 
mastered  it,  taking  his  necessary  sleep  on  the  floor  with 
a  law  book  for  a  pillow.  "Let's  go  up  to  the  executive 
residence  and  call  on  the  governor  before  you  leave 
toy  n, ' '  said  one  Madisonian  to  a  visitor  at  2  o  'clock  one 
morning.  Such  unconventional  proceeding  was  nothing 
strange  at  that  time. 

On  the  occasion  of  one  of  his  visits  to  Milwaukee,  Gov 
ernor  LaFollette  was  accompanied  by  one  of  his  lieu 
tenants,  A.  T.  Torge.  "Now,  Torge,"  said  he  on  arriv 
ing  at  his  hotel,  "I  want  to  go  up  stairs  and  take  a  little 
nap  this  afternoon ;  you  wake  me  in  fifteen  minutes. ' ' 
"Thought  I  to  myseff,"  said  Torge,  "what  you  need  is 
fifteen  hours  sleep ;  I  '11  give  you  three  anyway, ' '  and  to 
prevent  anyone  disturbing  his  charge  he  locked  the  door 
and  putting  the  key  in  his  pocket  went  down  stairs.  In 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  he  was  astonished  to  hear  loud 
thumpings  front  the  room  he  had  just  left.  The  governor 
had  slept  his  self-prescribed  time  and  now  Avanted  to 
get  out. 

The  governor's  capacity  for  work  was  prodigious.  An 
attorney  pitted  against  LaFollette  in  a  certain  case  once 
remarked,  "what  can  we  expect  to  do  against  a  man  who 
works  25  hours  a  day?"  For  weeks  at  a  time  during 
this  session  he  averaged  but  three  or  four  hours  sleep  a 


262  LAFOLLETTE  's    WINNING    OF    WISCONSIN 

night.  Invariably  the  lights  in  the  executive  office  blazed 
until  long  after  midnight,  -occasionally  all  night. 

While  possessing  remarkable  facility  for  turning  off 
callers,  LaFollette  frequently  abandoned  everything  else 
to  enjoy  a  visitor.  If  he  became  interested  it  mattered 
not  that  callers  on  missions  of  the  most  vital  import 
were  impatiently  pacing  the  floor  of  the  anteroom ;  they 
simply  had  to  wait  until  he  had  heard  out  some  story 
or  had  himself  related  some  Colorado  hunting  experience 
or  amusing  Chautauqua  incident.  While  he  was  gov 
ernor,  much  of  the  official  work  could  be  done  only  after 
midnight  and  in  the  early  forenoon.  The  various  bills 
and  other  matters  would  then  be  studied  and  considered. 
A  small  room  in  the  basement  beneath  the  executive 
office  had  been  fitted  up  for  his  use  and  here  completely 
shut  off  jfrom  the  clamorous  outside  world  he  would  work 
undisturbed.  Occasionally  his  advisers  and  favored 
visitors  were  also  received  here  and  could  the  walls  of 
this  retreat  have  spoken  they  might  have  revealed  many 
a  tale  of  plot  and  counterplot  in  comparison  with  which 
this  history  were  tame  reading. 

It  happened  that  one  night  after  the  final  adjournment 
of  the  legislature  a  group  ~6f  "  half  -breed "  legislators 
came  to  the  executive  office  at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
LaFollette  was  in  the  dungeon  below  signing  bills  and 
preparing  to  take  a  4  o'clock  train  on  a  lecturing  tour. 
Finally  he  came  up  stairs  and  meeting  Senator  George 
Wylie,  he  threw  his  arms  around  the  latter 's  neck  and 
said:  "Well,  we  didn't  get  all  we  wanted,  but  we  did 
pretty  well,  and  we  have  enough  left  over  for  another 
campaign."  A  like  affectionate  greeting  was  given  Sen 
ator  Martin  and  others.  "And  you  could  have  tied  their 
smiles  behind  their  ears,"  said  a  spectator  afterwards. 

Admittance  to  this  basement  room,  by  the  way,  repre 
sented  practically  the  highest  degree  of  confidence  in  a 
caller  on  the  part  of  the  governor.  It  was  practically 


INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903  263 

equivalent  to  a  clean  bill  of  health,  politically  speaking, 
in  administration  eyes,  and  in  addition  a  recognition  of 
more  than  ordinary  worth  and  consequence  in  the  indi 
vidual  favored.  The  rooms  at  the  executive  office,  it 
might  be  explained,  permitted  the  grading  of  callers  into 
classes  corresponding  to  their  consequence  or  worth  in 
the  eyes  of  the  governor  and  his  kitchen  cabinet.  The 
large  outer  office,  or  reception  room,  was  open  to  all. 
Here  was  the  office  of  the  private  secretary  and  the  ex 
ecutive  clerk,  and  here  were  met  the  newspaper  men, 
politicians  and  all  casual  callers.  Few  stalwarts  of  con 
sequence  who  had  occasion  to  call  ever  got  beyond  this 
room.  As  governor,  LaFollette  discouraged  the  ad 
vances  of  such  visitors,  and  was  quite  firm  and  formal, 
and  sometimes  quite  frigid,  to  them.  Save  for  one  or 
two  exceptions,  he  plainly  did  not  care  for  these  callers. 
He  was  determined  that  no  wrong  construction  should 
be  placed  in  the  public  mind  on  his  attitude  toward  his 
political  opponents.  He  early  accepted  the  wisdom  of 
avoiding  the  appearance  of  evil,  which  to  many  seemed 
anomalous  or  contradictory  in  a  nature  so  decisive  and 
unafraid. 

To  the  right  of  this  outer  office  were  the  governor's 
private  offices.  •  Callers  who  could  satisfy  Colonel  Mur 
phy  or  John  Hannan  that  their  missions  justified  the 
privilege  were  admitted  to  these  rooms. 

Were  still  greater  privacy  than  the  executive's  own 
office  desired  recourse  wras  had  to  the  stenographers' 
room  adjoining  the  outer  office  on  the  left,  and  to  be 
invited  there  might  be  said  to  mark  the  attainment  of 
the  second  degree  in  official  favor. 

But  the  basement  retreat,  which  was  reached  by  a 
spiral  iron  stair  from  the  stenographers'  room,  was  the 
ne  plus  ultra  in  administration  esteem.  With  the  ex 
ception  of  an  occasional  distinguished  visitor  from  out 
ride  the  state,  only  the  truly  elect  ever  attained  this 


264  LAFOLLETTE  'S     WINNING     OF     WISCONSIN 

station,  only  those  who  besides  being  thoroughly  en 
rapport  with  the  administration  had  a  further  reputation 
for  political  sagacity  or  could  be  expected  to  deliver  the 
goods  in  their  home  localities,  in  other  words  men  of 
weight  and  standing. 

Of  course  there  were  exceptions  to  all  these  regulations 
in  the  for-m  of  a  few  privileged  ones  who  felt  free  to 
enter  any  sanctum  at  any  time,  such  as  H.  W.  Chyno- 
weth,  Irvine  Lenroot,  General  George  E.  Bryant  and 
H.  S.  Comstock,  but  these  might  almost  be  regarded  as 
part  of  the  executive  machinery  of  the  state  anyway. 

It  might  be  added  that  ranking  in  favor  with  a  con 
ference  in  this  basement  retreat  was  an  invitation  to  the 
executive  residence.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  LaPollette 
as  governor  found  it  necessary  to  do  much  of  his  work 
at  home  he  could  not  give  much  time  to  visitors  there, 
and  a  personal  invitation  to  the  executive  residence  was 
therefore  a  marked  honor  to  the  recipient. 

It  is  characteristic  of  strong  souls  to  be  blind  to  ideas 
that  do  not  originate  in  their  own  intense  natures.  Be 
cause  of  this  failing,  men  of  independent  spirit  are 
often  led  into  unwise  steps,  but  this  does  not  alter  the 
great  fact.  It  is  constitutional  with  positive  characters 
and  must  be  so  expected  to  manifest  itself.  Such  na 
tures  are  likewise  prone  to  be  blind  to  any  virtues  in 
those  who  oppose  them.  In  their  relations  with  their 
fellows  they  treat  upon  the  basis  of  ''whoever  is  not 
wholly  with  me  is  against  me." 

This  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  touchstone  by  which 
LaFollette  unconsciously  tried  his  fellows,  and  on  the 
whole  it  appears  to  be  the  wise  rule  to  follow,  at  least 
for  such  as  can  bear  much  in  the  way  of  misunderstand 
ing  and  opposition.  He  did  not  make  the  mistake  char 
acteristic  of  weak  natures  of  seeking  to  placate  his  ene 
mies.  He  rewarded  his  friends,  but  smote  his  foes. 
While,  like  the  generality  of  leaders,  he  has  been  willing 


INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903  265 

to  use  all  who  would  serve  him,  he  has  had  small  patience.  i 
with  such  "reformers"  and  so-called  progressives  who, 
while  loudly  zealous  on  some  propositions,  have  yet 
cautiously  maintained  "pipe-line"  connections,  so  to 
speak,  with  some  hostile  interest,  or,  to  change  the  figure, 
have  never  lost  sight  of  a  port  to  windward.  And  with 
a  penetration  subtler  than  most  men's  he  has  seldom 
overestimated  the  worth  of  such  followers. 

The  workings  of  the  so-called  "LaFollette  mind,"  by 
the  way,  was  a  subject  that  engaged  the  study  of  many 
political  psychologists  at  the  time  and  since.  Amos  P. 
Wilder,  editor  of  the  State  Journal,  often  speculated 
upon  it  editorially.  Many  believe  that  LaFollette  dic 
tated  and  directed  all  acts  and  movements  individually 
and  collectively  in  his  following.  For  a  score  of  years, 
but  more  particularly  since  he  went  to  Washington  as 
United  States  senator,  he  has  been  painted  on  the  stump 
and  in  a  large  part  of  the  opposition  press  as  sitting  at 
his  office  in  the  national  capital  like  some  gigantic  magi 
cian  with  diabolical  intuition  jerking  the  proper  string 
at  every  contingency  that  required  action  on  the  part 
of  his  friends.  ' '  Taking  orders  from  Washington, ' '  was 
the  easy  explanation  too  often  advanced  for  the  course 
of  action  pursued  by  his  friends  in  Wisconsin,  and  he 
was  thus  made  the  vicarious  sufferer  for  ten  thousand 
sins  of  others.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  only  occasion 
ally  that  he  has  taken  a  hand  in  local  contests  and  issues, 
so  engrossed  has  he  been  with  the  larger  national  ones 
and  personal  and  domestic  demands.  As  Wilder  once 
observed,  the  "LaFollette  mind"  was  not  confined  to  one 
small  pompadour  head.  When  a  situation  arose  it  re 
quired  no  direct  connection  with  the  central  brain  to  de 
termine  the  attitude  to  be  taken  by  his  followers.  As  if 
by  some  magic  telepathy,  they  took  their  positions  in 
tuitively  and  seldom  in  a  way  inconsistent  with  the  in 
herent  genius  of  the  cause. 


266  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

The  governor's  energy  seemed  boundless.  Said  one 
of  his  friends  at  the  time : 

Science  teaches  us  that  power  can  be  converted  into  .speed, 
and  velocity  into  power,  and  this  seems  to  be  exemplified  in  the 
intellectual  processes  of  LaFollette.  With  the  most  of  us  when 
we  acquire  a  surplusage  of  vitality  and  animal  energy  we  go  out 
and  ' '  work  it  off. ' '  We  simply  must  burn  it  up,  and  do  so  by 
playing,  fighting,  carousing,  or  what  not.  It  is  a  torture  to  be 
denied  this  privilege. 

LaFollette,  on  the  other  hand,  seemingly  possesses  ?i  remark 
able  faculty  of  turning  this  overflow,  through  some  subtle  chem 
istry,  into  mental  energy,  and  storing  it  up  in  his  capacious 
nervous  reservoir  against  the  day  of  use.  When  this  day  arrives 
he  proves  himself  a  very  battery  of  energy  and  can  concentrate 
himself  with  crushing  effect. 

Who  that  has  seen  him  at  a  social  affair  at  his  own  house,  for 
instance,  and  not  marveled  at  the  manifestation  of  nervous  power 
exemplified  in  him !  Feline  alertness  is  perhaps  the  best  com 
parison  to  this  manifestation.  He  is  seated  bolt  upright  in  his 
chair,  perhaps  smoking  violently  under  the  momentary  excitement. 
His  strong  face  and  firm-set  jaw  fairly  radiate  intelligence  and 
power.  His  eyes  dance  and  pierce  with  dazzling  animation.  The 
fingers  of  his  left  hand  drum  the  table  hard  and  nervously.  As 
someone  tells  a  story  he  emphasizes  the  points  with  sharp  and  vivid 
grunts,  more  powerfully  expressive  than  the  story-teller  himself. 
We  said  seated  on  his  chair,  but  no,  a  lady  appears  at  the  door  to 
say  ''good  night,"  and  he  rises  to  his  feet  as  by  some  electric, 
bird-like  process  which  gives  the  feeling  that  he  had  not  Been 
seated  at  all,  but  had  been  merely  touching  his  chair. 

Unfortunately  for  romance,  LaFollette  was  caught  young  and 
civilized.  What  a  pirate  or  highwayman,  what  a  red-handed  rip 
per  and  raider  might  not  this  barrel  of  wildcats  have  made !  What 
a  swashbuckling  Dumas  hero !  But,  alas !  he  is  civilized ! 

Under  the  pressure  of  other  things,  the  governor's 
correspondence  would  pile  up,  much  to  the  worry  and 
dismay  of  his  secretaries  and  clerks.  When  action  finally 
became  imperative  they  would  literally  drag  him  to 
his  task.  The  baptism  of  work  then  given  them  would 
be  not  soon  forgotten.  Three  or  four  stenographers 
would  be  called  in  and  in  relay  fashion  the  governor 
would  dictate  to  them  with  great  rapidity  for  hours  so 


INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903  267 

that  several  machines  were  kept  constantly  transcribing 
his  words  until  the  pile  of  letters  before  him  had  melted 
away. 

He  worked  in  like  manner  on  his  messages  to  the  legis 
lature — these  remarkable  state  papers  of  Hamiltonian 
lucidity  and  logic  were  frequently  prepared  under  sim 
ilar  distracting  circumstances  and  pressure  at  the  very 
last  moment,  frequently  going  to  the  houses  with  the  ink 
of  his  signature  upon  them  still  undried. 

In  this  connection  an  incident  throwing  an  interesting 
sidelight  upon  LaFollette's  nature  may  be  cited.  Fol 
lowing  his  second  election  as  governor  in  the  fall  of  1902 
some  sympathetic  old  woman  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  state  sent  him  a  pair  of  thick  woolen  mittens,  and 
with  them  a  loving  note  of  appreciation,  stating  that  she 
had  knit  them  herself  and  trusted  that  they  might  be  of 
use  to  him.  The  governor  was  greatly  moved  at  the  re 
ceipt  of  them,  but  neglected  to  reply  to  the  aged  donor 's 
letter.  Weeks  and  months  dragged  by  and  still  the 
letter  remained  unanswered.  When  reminded  of  the 
fact  by  his  secretary,  he  would  reply /'yes,  some  other 
time."  Finally  there  came  a  rainy  day  when  callers 
were  few  and  he  found  the  desired  moment.  Instead  of 
going  home  to  lunch  he  sat  down  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  and  his  appreciation  of  the  gift.  Over  an  hour 
was  spent  in  its  writing,  in  the  course  of  which  he  took 
occasion  to  pay  a  tribute  to  his  own  mother  and  rehearse 
some  of  the  privations  she  had  undergone  in  pioneer 
days. 

In  respect  to  the  attitude  of  the  governor  toward  vis 
itors  at  the  time,  however,  there  has  been  much  disagree 
ment.  Many  who  sought  interviews  and  conferences 
with  him  in  the  very  nature  of  things  had  to  be  disap 
pointed  and  therefore  laid  up  against  him  the  charge  that 
he  was  shutting  the  door  in  the  face  of  the  people  of  the 
state.  The  marvel  is  that  he  found  time  to  keep  open 


268  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

house  to  as  many  as  he  did.  Men  of  LaFollette's  mag 
netism,  initiative  and  leadership  when  in  positions  of 
influence  and  power,  are  constantly  beset  by  visitors, 
and  LaFollette  had  more  than  his  share  of  them.*  The 
place-seeker;  the  idly  curious;  the  man  "with  a  knife 
out"  for  someone;  the  man  with  an  axe  to  grind;  the 
individual  who  believed  he  had  secrets  and  ideas  of 
value;  the  eager  lieutenant  with  new  plans  and  reports; 
the  agent  seeking  for  a  sale  or  the  prestige  of  the  gov 
ernor's  endorsement;  the  man  who  had  known  his  father 
and  wanted  to  sit  down  and  talk  an  hour  or  two  of  old 
times ;  the  woman  after  a  son 's  or  a  husband 's  pardon ; 
the  upstate  man  who  thought  his  railroad  fare  to  Madi 
son  entitled  him  to  a  handshake  and  a  chat — these,  and 
the  cloud  of  newspaper  reporters  always  on  his  trail, 
were  familiar  figures  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night  in 
the  anteroom  of  the  executive  office. 

To  receive,  entertain,  amuse,  placate  and  relieve  all 
these  heterogeneous  elements  and  interests  from  morn 
ing  until  midnight,  day  after  day,  would  seem  a  task  to 
appal  the  stoutest.  Yet  this  was,  of  course,  merely  in 
cidental  to  the  larger  and  really  vital  work  of  LaFollette. 

The  reform  ideas  which  were  consuming  him  with 
enthusiasm  and  which  he  determined  to  place  upon  the 
statute  books  he  had  to  construct  and  develop  largely 
alone.  It  was  almost  virgin  ground  which  he  had  to 
break  and  in  the  breaking  of  which  he  had  to  uproot 
hoary  stumps  of  prejudice  and  precedent  and  turn  under 
a  tenacious  growth  of  traditions,  political  superstitions 
and  practices. 

Through  ancient  lies  of  proudest  birth 
He    drove   his    share. 

These  largely  experimental  ideas  he  also  had  to  make 
practical  and  effective,  able  to  withstand  the  test  of 
constitutionality — as  in  the  main  they  have,  and  how  ad 
mirably  have  they  not  withstood  the  test,  a  splendid  tri- 


INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903  269 

bute  to  LaFollette's  constructive  statesmanship  and 
strong  good  sense.  And  lastly,  in  addition  to  disseminat 
ing  and  nurturing  the  seeds  of  these  ideas  in  the  minds 
of  an  electorate  not  yet  attuned  to  the  new  movement,  he 
had  to  wage  an  unceasing  warfare  of  self  preservation 
against  a  powerful  party  rebellion  and  weld  his  own 
heterogeneous  following — "General  Bryant's  miserable 
rabble" — into  an  effective  fighting  machine.  In  other 
words,  he  had  to  largely  create  the  issues  and  create  the 
army.  What  wonder  that  he  could  not  please  everyone 
who  sought  him? 

LaFollette  while  governor  set  a  shining  example  to 
other  executives  by  dealing  with  conditions  and  men 
exactly  as  he  found  them.  He  wasted  110  time  in  re 
pining.  He  thereby  obtained  results.  This  trait  was 
strikingly  shown  in  his  campaigns.  He  had  to  "  fight 
the  devil  with  fire"  and  meet  desperate  and  underhanded 
methods  with  the  same  practices.  Questionable  deals 
with  both  democrats  and  stalwarts  had  to  be  made  to 
hold  some  vital  point  or  capture  some  strategic  position. 
The  whole  delegation  of  Door  county  was  once  won  over 
by  thus  taking  care  of  one  man.  It  was  a  frequent  ex 
perience  to  hear  the  telephone  in  the  executive  office  ring 
and  a  voice  call  from  somewhere  far  across  the  state 
where  some  critical  convention  was  being  held,  saying : 

Governor,  £o-and-So  is  kicking  over  the  traces  and  promising 
to  make  all  kinds  of  trouble.  We  have  got  to  have  him  to  win  the 
day.  What  can  we  offer  him? 

Such  were  among  the  problems  constantly  presented  to 
the  resourceful  executive  for  solution.  Occasionally  a 
bargain  had  to  be  closed  with  some  disreputable  indi 
vidual  whom  no  self-respecting  man  would  in  any  other 
contingency  deign  to  recognize.  All  volunteers  were 
received  and  put  into  ranks  wherever  they  would  fit. 
With  his  field  marshals  it  was  the  same.  There  was  no 
squeamish  scanning  of  their  motives  in  coming  in,  nor 


270  LAFOLLETTE  's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

of  their  tactics  in  the  field  later.  With  the  Neys,  Junots 
and  Bertrands,  whose  disinterested  hearts  and  hands 
were  given  wholly  to  their  general,  were  received  also 
the  self-seeking  Bernadottes,  Talleyrands  and  Moreaus. 
If  they  could  but  fight,  no  question  was  raised.  It  has 
been  said  that  all  great  men  are  unscrupulous.  Certain 
it  is  that  hesitation  at  scruples  has  lost  many  battles  and 
also  has  been  the  cause  of  many  missing  greatness. 

The  sharpest  tactics  were  resorted  to  by  each  side  to 
learn  the  plans  of  the  other.  One  half-breed  member  of 
the  lower  house  was  particularly  successful  in  "getting 
next"  to  the  opposition,  and  through  him  the  governor 
was  able  to  know  almost  day  by  day  the  secrets  and  oper 
ations  of  the  "enemy."  A  good  fellow,  himself,  one  of 
his  most  fruitful  methods  was  to  frequent  the  saloons 
where  certain  stalwarts  were  wont  to  gather  of  evenings 
and  join  them  in  a  gentleman's  round  of  conviviality. 
Knowing  how  liquor  can  loosen  men's  tongues,  he  would 
in  due  season  skillfully  draw  out  some  now  more  confi 
dential  companion  and  obtain  his  desired  information, 
occasionally  finding  it  necessary  to  feign  intoxication  to 
do  so.  "Not  very  nice  business,"  he  would  say,  "but 
this  is  war." 

To  guard  against  possible  leaks  through  them,  news 
papermen  were  sharply  watched  by  both  sides.  Occa 
sionally  desperate  and  ingenious  methods  had  to  be  em 
ployed  by  the  press  "gang"  to  obtain  the  news.  On 
one  occasion  a  Milwaukee  sleuth  succeeded  one  afternoon 
in  slipping  into  an  alcove  of  a  room  in  which  a  confer 
ence  was  to  be  held  in  the  evening  and  from  this  vantage 
point  was  able  to  get  the  desired  story,  even  to  the 
speeches  made,  although  himself  in  total  darkness.  An 
other  time  one  of  them  slipped  out  on  a  window  sill  of 
the  capitol  and  waited  an  hour  or  two  in  the  cold  that  he 
might  get  the  story  of  another  secret  meeting.  The  sur 
prise  attending  the  revelations  of  performances  thought 


INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903  271 

to  be  entirely  secret  can  be  best  imagined.  The  Wiscon 
sin  legislative  sessions  of  the  opening  of  the  century 
were  thus  rare  schools  for  the  training  of  real  newspaper 
men. 

Always  to  a  degree  an  idealist  himself,  LaFollette  re-  -A; 
cast  the  old  rule  and  employed  young  men  for  counsel  as  ' 
well  as  for  war.  While  preparing  his  first  message  to 
the  legislature  in  1901  he  had  Henry  F.  Cochems,  then 
recently  out  of  the  university,  "bury  himself"  (as  he 
was  directed)  for  several  weeks  in  the  state  historical 
library  and  make  a  study  of  articles  on  current  public 
questions  of  interest  and  prepare  digests  of  them. 
Cochems  was  one  of  the  wonder  students  of  his  day  and 
had  demonstrated  an  almost  uncanny  capacity  for  this 
sort  of  work.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  tax  commis 
sion  did  not  have  its  report  ready,  it  is  said  LaFollette 
had  not  intended  to  say  anything  about  railroad  taxation, 
but  Cochems,  after  reading  what  Governor  Pingree  of 
Michigan  was  doing  in  the  way  of  railroad  reform  urged 
LaFollette  to  not  be  silent  on  that  point.  Finding  it 
impossible  to  get  any  figures  from  the  tax  commission, 
they  called  upon  Halford  E.  Erickson,  labor  commis 
sioner,  and  had  him  work  out  some  tables  which  the  gov 
ernor  incorporated  into  his  message  and  which  later 
called  down  much  criticism  because  they  did  not  fully 
correspond  with  those  of  the  commission. 

About  this  time  also  a  thin-faced  serious  student  from 
the  east  who  had  come  to  Wisconsin  for  a  doctorate  de 
gree  called  on  the  governor  and  suggested  the  desirability 
of  a  legislative  reference  library  to  assist  legislators  in  the 
drafting  of  bills,  somewhat  along  the  lines  of  a  similar 
institution  established  for  the  British  Parliament.  It 
was  pointed  out  by  the  eager  and  eloquent  student  that 
such  library  would  not  only  be  of  great  benefit  in  the 
way  of  bringing  about  intelligent  scientific  legislation, 
but  would  free  the  legislators  from  dependence  upon 


272  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

lobbyists,  and  corporation  attorneys  who  had  hitherto 
had  so  potent  a  hand  in  shaping  legislation  and  to  the 
interests  of  their  employers.  The  student  was  Charles 
H.  McCarthy.  With  a  few  blue  books  and  other  state 
publications  he  was  installed  in  a  little  side  room  in  the 
capitol,  scarcely  larger  than  an  alcove.  Thus  was  begun 
the  now  splendid  legislative  reference  library,  one  of 
the  boasts  of  Wisconsin,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  this  coun 
try,  and  which  is  now  finding  its  counterpart  in  many 
other  states,  as  it  promises  to  soon  be  incorporated  into 
the  national  legislative  scheme. 

Some  of  the  difficulties  with  which  the  reform  cause 
had  to  contend  by  the  way  may  be  obtained  from  a  study 
of  the  political  conditions  in  Walworth  county  at  the 
time. 

Walworth  county  became  and  remained  a  stronghold 
of  stalwartism  through  a  peculiar  combination  of  circum 
stances,  and  illustrated  in  an  illuminating  way  the  con 
nection  between  high  finance  and  conservatism.  Much 
the  same  story  could  be  told  of  Marathon  county,  with  its 
comparatively  wealthy  city  of  Wausau — the  last  stal 
wart  stronghold  to  fall — and  of  a  number  of  counties. 

A  particularly  fertile  region,  Walworth  county  had 
been  largely  settled  by  a  thrifty,  conservative  New  Eng 
land  element.  Many  of  the  old  families  had  become 
wealthy  through  simply  maintaining  their  real  estate 
holdings.  Naturally  during  the  LaFollette  upheavals 
they  made  common  cause  with  "big  business"  and 
frowned  upon  any  disturbance  of  things  as  they  were. 
Their  fortunes  in  many  cases  were  also  involved  with 
the  big  interests  of  the  county. 

From  out  the  same  county  too  had  gone  many  men 
who  had  become  prominently  connected  with  great  con 
cerns  in  the  business  world  and  who  exercised  a  conserva 
tive  influence  upon  their  relatives  in  the  old  home  lo 
cality. 


INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903  273 

Lastly  should  be  remembered  the  fact  that  large  num 
bers  of  wealthy  Chicago  people  had  homes  on  Lake 
Geneva  and  at  other  desirable  places  in  the  county. 
These  homes,  of  regal  magnificence,  costing  individually 
upwards  of  a  million  dollars  and  whose  very  barns  were 
appointed  with  hardwood  floors,  polished  brass  and  brus- 
sels  carpets,  tended  to  create  an  atmosphere  of  aris 
tocracy  and  conservatism. 

It  is  interesting  to  revert  to  the  subject  of  the  big  stal 
warts  hailing  from  this  county,  and  to  see  the  intimate 
blood  and  business  connections  that  bound  them  and 
their  interests  together.  Thus  out  of  Walworth  county 
had  come  George  R.  Peck,  a  great  lawyer  and  general 
counsel  of  the  St.  Paul  railroad,  as  well  as  George  C. 
Wiswall,  for  years  the  clever  and  effective  lobbyist  of 
the  same  road,  and  later  John  Harris,  who  after  serving 
in  both  houses  of  the  legislature,  succeeded  Wiswall  as 
lobbyist.  It  may  also  be  not  amiss  to  note  here  that  the 
Earling  family — the  directing  heads  of  the  same  road — • 
came  from  a  nearby  county. 

From  Walworth  also  came  Edward  Tilden  of  the  Chi 
cago  beef  trust,  who  was  named  in  the  Lorimer  scandal 
and  who  won  notoriety  in  this  connection  by  his  refusal 
to.  produce  the  books  of  the  company.  During  the  fac 
tional  controversy  in  Wisconsin  the  Delavan  Republican 
was  edited  by  a  brother-in-law  of  Tilden 's. 

Another  product  of  Walworth  and  of  the  city  of  Elk- 
horn  was  Major  A.  J.  Cheney,  agent  of  the  Webster  dic 
tionary  company,  who,  with  S.  B.  Todd  of  the  American 
Book  company,  worked  to  bring  about  the  renomination 
of  L.  D.  Harvey  for  superintendent  of  public  instruction 
in  1902 ;  so  also  was  A.  E.  Matheson,  the  prominent  stal 
wart  attorney  of  Janesville,  law  partner  of  Senator  John 
M.  Whitehead.  Then  there  were  local  stalwart  leaders 
of  ability  and  influence,  such  as  Z.  P.  Beach  and  E.  D. 

18 


274  LAFOLLETTE 's  WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

Coe  of  Whitewater  and  Henry  Barnes  of  Elkhorn,  for 
years  county  clerk. 

Edward  Tilden  owned  a  fine  fancy  live  stock  farm 
near  Delavan  and  was  a  frequent  visitor  there.  Some 
years  ago  the  Delavan  high  school  building  was  destroyed 
by  fire  and  when  the  new  building  was  dedicated  Edward 
Tilden  was  present  as  the  "big  man"  of  the  occasion  and 
made  an  address.  It  is  said  that  he  did  not  get  beyond 
the  grades  while  attending  school  in  his  native  Delavan, 
yet  here  he  came  back,  to  his  credit,  as  the  president  of 
the  school  board  of  the  great  city  of  Chicago.  What 
wonder  if  he  exercised  some  influence  in  the  community? 

A  number  of  the  big  business  interests  of  Elkhorn 
were  understood  to  be  enjoying  valuable  favors  from  the 
railroads  in  the  form  of  rebates  and  special  rates.  In 
return  for  these  favors  they  were  expected  to  fight  the 
LaFollette  taxation  program.  The  proximity  of  Elk- 
horn  to  Chicago  and  the  intimate  business  relations  ex 
isting  between  certain  interests  in  the  two  cities  made 
Elkhorn  a  natural  channel  for  anti-LaFollette  corpora 
tion  money  to  find  its  way  from  Chicago  into  Wisconsin 
and  it  is  said  a  great  deal  took  this  course,  particularly 
in  the  1910  senatorial  campaign. 

The  First  National  Bank  of  Elkhorn  was  the  fortress 
\  of  stalwartism  and  to  an  extent  dominated  the  business 
of  the  place.  John  Harris  and  Walter  West  of  the 
creamery  firm  of  Harris  &  West  were  heavy  stockholders 
in  this  concern  and  both  used  their  influence  against 
LaFollette,  the  one  being  a  stalwart  republican,  the  other 
a  stalwart  democrat.  Connected  with  them  by  business 
and  blood  ties  was  the  creamery  firm  of  Harris  & 
Derthick  at  Waukesha.  George  Harris  of  this  firm  was 
the  brother  of  John  Harris  of  Elkhorn.  Interested  with 
them  was  Senator  A.  M.  ("Long")  Jones  and  T.  E. 
Ryan,  the  democratic  stalwart  lawyer.  An  admirable 


INCIDENTS  OF  SESSION  OF  1903  275 

illustration  of  the  ramification  of  stalwart  relationship  is 
thus  furnished  in  this  case. 

It  was  against  such  powerful  forces  and  influences  that 
the  young  and  disinterested  republicanism  of  old  Wai- 
worth  had  to  long  contest  before  effecting  the  change  that 
was  finally  to  come. 

It  may  be  added,  perhaps,  that  from  the  beginning 
the  reform  program  proposed  by  LaFollette  received  the  s 
support  of  organized  labor  as  well  as  that  of  the  farm 
ers.  Railroad  workers  were  not  then  so  well  organized 
as  at  present  and,  as  organizations,  took  no  hand  in 
politics,  but  the  rank  and  file,  as  individuals,  were  on  the 
side  of  the  new  movement.  A  recent  letter  to  Senator 
LaFollette  from  one  J.  E.  Hannan,  then  manager  of  the 
Michigan  state  fair,  may  be  cited  as  illustrative  of  this 
fact.  Writing  from  Detroit,  May  23,  1911,  he  said : 

I  do  not  know  as  you  remember  the  writer,  but  you  had  a 
case  against  the  Northwestern  Kailway  Company  for  me  when 
I  was  firing  a  locomotive  for  that  company.  If  you  remember, 
you  did  not  charge  me  a  cent  for  your  services  in  settling  the  ' 
case,  and  said  that  you  were  running  for  governor,  and  that  if 
I  could  say  a  word  to  some  of  the  railroad  men,  for  you,  I  might. 
I  do  not  believe  I  missed  an  opportunity  to  relate  your  action  in 
the  matter,  and  whether  it  did  any  good  or  not,  I  do  not  know, 
but  I  hope  and  believe  it  did. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Beading  of  Freight  Bates. 

GOVERNOR  EARLY  IN  LECTURE  FIELD  AFTER  SESSION — CREATES 
SENSATION  BY  CHARGING  BRIBERY  IN  SESSION  OF  1901 — SOUNDS 
FIRST  "HiGH-CosT-OF-LiviNG"  NOTE  IN  LABOR  DAY  ADDRESS — 
ANOTHER  COUNTY  FAIR  CAMPAIGN — SUBSTITUTES  READING  OF 
FREIGHT  RATES  FOR  ROLL  CALL. 

IJBDINABILY,  for  a  year  following  a  legislative  ses 
sion,  times  are  "dull,"  politically  speaking,  in  a  state. 
Periods  of  excitement  are  followed  by  corresponding 
periods  of  lassitude  on  the  part  of  the  public  and  fre 
quently  a  forward  movement  is  followed  by  one  of  reac 
tion  in  which  all  the  advanced  ground  taken  is  lost.  It 
is  one  of  the  lessons  of  history,  emphasizing  the  impor 
tance  of  eternal  vigilance.  But  Wisconsin  was  not  per 
mitted  to  afford  such  illustration  during  the  LaFollette 
regime.  For  a  decade  the  state  was  to  be  practically  a 
political  armed  camp.  The  teeming  brain,  the  tireless 
energy  and  the  unwearied  will  of  LaFollette  permitted 
of  no  cessation  in  his  eager  crusade. 

Scarcely  had  the  session  of  1903  closed  with  its  drawn 
battles  before  the  governor  was  again  stirring  his  propa- 
gandic  leaven  and  giving  new  concern  to  the  opposition 
by  indications  that  he  would  again  lead  his  forces  in 
person,  even  in  the  face  of  the  third-term  precedent  for 
no  one  but  military-hero  governors. 

Early  in  the  summer  he  accepted  an  invitation  to 
>  speak  at  the  assembly  at  Lake  Chautauqua,  N.  Y.,  and 
there  gave  a  strong  and  vigorous  address,  setting  forth 
his  doctrines  and  reciting  his  experiences  in  his  own 
state.  The  legislative  contest  in  Wisconsin  had  attracted 
attention  far  beyond  the  state  and  this  address  was 


READING  OF  FREIGHT  RATES  277 

awaited  with  much  interest  as  the  keynote  of  his  next 
campaign,  if  one  was  to  follow. 

The  governor's  first  word  in  Wisconsin,  following  the 
session,  was  spoken  at  the  Monona  Lake  Assembly  at 
Madison,  July  30,  a  strong  and  exhaustive  address  deal 
ing  with  the  legislative  and  political  situation  in  the 
state.  In  this  address  he  created  a  state  sensation  by 
charging  that  legislation  was  defeated  in  the  session 
of  1901  through  bribery  and  that  the  attempted  use  of 
money  was  * '  susceptible  of  proof. ' '  A  great  protest  was 
raised  in  the  stalwart  press  over  the  speech,  with  a 
mighty  demand  upon  the  governor  to  "produce  the 
proof."  The  Wisconsin  State  Journal  treated  the  ad 
dress  with  ridicule,  saying  in  part : 

Then  Mr.  Chynoweth  (who  introduced  the  governor)  threw  a 
tremor  in  his  voice  as  he  referred  to  ' '  Representative  Government. ' ' 
"He  stands  for  it,"  said  he  (suggestion  of  applause  from  some 
families  who  had  driven  in;)  "he  believes  in  it";  (gathering 
volume  of  applause)  ;  "he  has  sacrificed  himself  for  it";  (a  man 
from  Paoli  cried  "Hooray"  at  this  point)  ;  "he  has  done  much" 
and  (in  a  voice  full  of  significance)  "he  will  do  more." 

At  this  some  honest  country  people  who  thought  they  detected 
in  Mr.  Chynoweth  a  true  son  of  the  soil  clapped  their  hands  to 
beat  the  band,  and  all  the  time  the  governor  looked  sadly  on  the 
earth.  It  recalled  Abraham  Lincoln  looking  out  thoughtfully  on 
the  Potomac  at  midnight  during  the  worst  stress  of  the  civil  war 
— the  patient  burden-bearer  of  the  people. 

It  soon  appeared  that  it  was  the  same  old  speech  beginning, 
"The  basic  principle,  etc." 

Of  this  State  Journal  story  the  Milwaukee  Free  Press 
said: 

Dr.  Amos  P.  Wilder,  editor  of  the  State  Journal,  sat  and 
chatted  with  Senator  John  M.  Whitehead  through  the  speech.  A 
State  Journal  reporter,  George  Perham  of  Racine,  wrote  a  faithful 
report  of  the  meeting,  giving  the  governor  credit  for  making  a 
notable  address.  This  report  was  glanced  at  by  "Dr."  Wilder 
and  he  immediately  "threw  a  fit."  "This  won't  do,  Perham. 
Neva'  do.  I'll  touch  this  off  myself,"  said  "Dr."  Wilder,  or 
something  to  that  effect,  and  he  wrote  the  purported  humorous 
report  of  the  speech  which  appeared  in  the  evening  Madison  paper. 


278  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

This  account  the  State  Journal  followed  with  an  edi 
torial  entitled,  "Peanuts  and  Hysterics."  Typical  of 
the  stalwart  tone  of  the  time,  a  portion  of  it  may  be 
reproduced  : 

We  say  to  the  Lakeside  audience  which  listened  to  the  smooth 
and  insidious  scandal-mongering  of  this  French  wizard  that  we 
would  in  preference  trust  our  last  dollar  or  dearest  interest  with 
any  of  the  men  mentioned  above — rascals  all,  according  to  La- 
Follette  's  reasoning.  *  * 

We  for  one  protest.  The  men  of  Wisconsin  will  never  get 
more  faithful,  honest,  loyal  representatives  in  the  senate  than 
some  of  these  men  LaFollette  attempted  in  his  Lakeside  speech 
to  pass  off  as  "corporation  hirelings."  It  was  his  most  daring 
feat  of  oratorical  deception;  the  districts  in  which  these  libeled 
senators  and  assemblymen  live  and  where  they  are  known  must 
be  amazed  and  disgusted. 

This  is  a  delirium  that  will  soon  pass  away.  An  era  of  sense 
and  justice  must  return.  Wisconsin  has  had  enough  of  LaFol- 
letteism.  Surely,  all  real  reform  is  not  done  by  black-haired  orators 
who  practice  elocution  before  the  groundlings  until  calm  delibera 
tions  of  skilled,  sensible  but  plain-talking  men  seem  foolishness. 
*  Even  the  mysteries  of  Herrman  and  Keller  will  not  stand 
indefinite  exploitation.  How  much  longer  will  Governor  Bob 's 
awful  warnings,  genial  arm  rubs  and  secret  negotiations  stand 
the  wear  and  tear  of  publicity  and  familiar  use?  *  *  * 

We,  for  one,  are  sick  of  fireworks,  of  dramatics,  of  sleight-of- 
hand.  We  hunger  and  thirst  for  something  genuine  and  real. 
We  long  for  the  re-enthronement  of  a  governor  in  this  state  on 
whom  one  may  call  on  public  business  without  first  the  scenes  being 
set,  the  red  fire  being  made  ready,  the  electric  shock  machine 
charged  for  the  country  trade.  We  are  tired  of  the  monarchy 
of  one-man  power  without  even  a  nobility  in  the  second  rank. 

The  closing  sentence  of  this  editorial  serves  to  recall 
that  one  of  the  general  complaints  with  reference  to  the 
governor  was  his  strong  and  constant  insistence  upon  his 
own  views  and  plans.  This  characteristic  is,  however, 
common  to  true  reformers.  They  see  but  the  goal,  and 
whatever  stands  in  the  way  must  be  sacrificed.  It  proves 
the  zeal  and  qualities  of  firmness  essential  to  succeed. 
On  this  point  the  Chicago  Tribune  said: 


READING  OF  FREIGHT  RATES  279 

He  was  ambitious  to  have  Wisconsin  control  its  railways  and 
to  be  the  man  to  cause  Wisconsin  to  control  the  railways.  He 
wanted  to  have  it  done  and  he  wanted  to  do  it  himself.  This  is 
his  main  fault.  He  wanted  to  do  it  himself.  He  would  rather 
do  it  himself  than  have  anybody  else  do  it.  Out  of  such  faults 
are  successful,  effective  statesmen  made. 

Invited  to  give  the  labor  day  address  at  Beloit,  the 
governor  precipitated  another  storm  of  criticism  by  de 
claring  in  his  discussion  of  the  trust  question  that  in  the 
past  six  years  the  wages  of  factory  workers  in  Wisconsin 
had  increased  on  the  whole  only  about  ten  per  cent,  while 
the  cost  of  living  had  increased  about  twenty-seven  per 
cent  in  the  same  time.  It  was  practically  the  first  public 
sounding  of  the  "  high-cost-of -living  "  note  later  to  be  so 
familiar  and  the  governor  was  roundly  abused  for  thus 
stirring  up  a  feeling  of  discontent  calculated  to  follow 
such  statements,  particularly  since  Beloit  had  just  passed 
through  the  experience  of  a  big  labor  strike.  Under  the 
editorial  caption,  "A  Dangerous  Man,"  the  Milwaukee 
Sentinel  denounced  the  governor  roundly  for  his  "in 
cendiary"  practices.  A  long  discussion  followed  in  the 
state  press  over  the  correctness  of  the  governor's  state 
ments,  with  Carroll  D.  Wright,  the  government  statis 
tician,  being  liberally  quoted  on  both  sides. 

Although  this  was  not  a  campaign  year  so  great  was 
the  feeling  caused  by  the  governor 's  address  that  Senator 
John  M.  Whitehead,  the  stalwart  leader,  replied  to  it  in 
a  speech  at  Beloit  two  weeks  later,  in  the  course  of  which 
address  he  made  the  interesting  statement,  among  others, 
that  the  stalwarts  had  succeeded  in  organizing  the  sen 
ate  in  1901  by  making  Senator  McGillivray  president  pro 
tern  in  return  for  support  for  Senator  "Long"  Jones, 
stalwart,  for  caucus  chairman.  Jones  had  accordingly 
been  elected  and  the  senate  committees  were  organized 
as  the  stalwarts  desired.  McGillivray,  by  the  way,  en 
tered  vigorous  denial  of  the  Whitehead  statement  which 
brought  other  senators  into  the  controversy,  among  them 


280  LAFOLLETTE  's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

W.  H.  Hatton  of  New  London,  who  said  Whitehead  was 
in  the  main  correct. 

McGillivray,  by  the  way,  was  one  of  the  picturesque 
characters  of  the  LaFollette  legislatures,  an  ardent,  ag 
gressive  supporter  of  the  governor  during  his  first  years 
of  service,  but  later  one  of  his  most  vigorous  opponents. 
With  a  certain  fluency  of  speech  and  dramatic  fervency, 
he  combined  a  voice  of  remarkable  volume.  As  the 
mountaineers  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  can  tell  their 
neighbors  for  miles  around  by  the  reports  of  their  guns, 
so  their  fellow  legislators  frequently  needed  but  to  enter 
the  corridors  of  the  capitol  to  know  that  McGillivray  or 
Senator  Hudnall  had  the  floor. 

One  morning  on  coming  to  the  statehouse  during  the 
session  following  the  capitol  fire  the  legislators  were  sur 
prised  to  find  a  great  network  of  ropes  completely  sur 
rounding  the  building.  These  had  been  stretched  in  the 
early  morning  under  direction  of  McGillivray  to  show 
the  outlines  of  the  new  capitol  of  which  he  had  proposed 
the  building.  " McGillivray 's  rope  capitol"  thus  fur 
nished  much  material  for  pleasantry  among  the  politi 
cians. 

Governor  LaFollette  did  not  charge  wholesale  bribery 
in  the  legislature,  but  he  drove  home  the  point  that,  as 
in  mathematics,  things  equal  to  the  same  thing  are  equal 
to  each  other ;  so  the  men  who  through  political  spite, 
or  jealousy  or  sympathy,  or  whatever  the  motive,  voted  to 
ends  and  effects  sought  by  bribery  were  equally  guilty 
and  dangerous,  though  not  purchased,  with  the  men 
actually  bribed. 

Many  of  the  incidents  related  here  and  elsewhere  in 
this  work  may  seem  trivial  or  unimportant  at  this  time, 
but  it  is  the  testimony  of  biographers  and  historians  that 
nothing  having  to  do  with  unusual  characters  of  history 
can  be  said  to  be  without  possible  interest  to  succeeding 
generations. 


READING  OF  FREIGHT  RATES  281 

The  value  of  this  attempted  historical  treatment  of 
the  times  so  soon  after  their  close  also  may  be  questioned 
By  many.  Nearness  usually  makes  a  true  perspective 
difficult.  Yet  for  the  particular  purposes  of  this  work 
it  was  begun  none  too  soon.  Much  of  the  material  herein 
contained  could  not  be  gathered  today,  so  rapidly  have 
death,  removals,  excitements  of  succeeding  campaigns, 
changes  of  affiliation,  and  other  factors,  transformed  con 
ditions  and  obscured  or  obliterated  the  sources  of  original 
information.  The  dry  legislative  records,  giving  no 
word  of  debate,  nor  even  the  names  of  contending  par 
tisans,  contain  scarcely  the  slightest  hint  of  the  storms 
that  have  swayed  the  legislative  chambers  of  the  capitol 
or  the  significance  of  the  political  currents  of  the  period. 
Save  then  for  the  aid  of  a  contemporary  press  the  his 
torian  of  the  remoter  future  would  find  but  a  meager  re 
flection  of  the  human  phases  of  any  state  legislative 
period.  But  much  beneath  the  surface  of  passing  events 
escapes  the  press,  nor  is  the  press  primarily  interested  in 
the  continuity  or  philosophy  of  contemporary  social 
phenomena.  The  historian  of  the  future  is  thus  placed 
under  obligations  to  the  contemporary  gleaner  who  pre 
serves,  without  presuming  at  too  much  discrimination,  all 
available  historical  material,  the  seemingly  ephemeral 
and  substantial  alike,  until  the  enduring  elements  of  all 
can  be  determined  and  given  proper  place  in  the  struc 
ture  of  a  people's  story. 

A  round  of  county  fair  speeches  by  the  governor  fol 
lowed,  in  the  month  of  September,  speeches  of  more  than 
ordinary  interest  from  the  standpoint  of  political  prac 
tices  because  of  the  employment  of  a  new  factor  in  Wis 
consin  campaigning,  the  so-called  reading  of  the  freight' 
rates.  A  political  writer  has  said  that  LaFollette  dis 
played  a  quality  nothing  short  of  genius  when  he  turned 
the  simple  reading  of  the  roll  call  into  an  effective  poli 
tical  weapon.  The  ability  to  rouse  and  maintain  the 


282  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

interest  of  audience  after  audience  in  the  reading  of  long 
and  formidable  tables  of  freight  rates,  however,  seems 
a  far  more  remarkable  achievement,  yet  this  was  largelf 
the  agency  through  which  the  governor  pressed  on  to 
another  victory.  The  plan  adopted  was  to  present  at 
each  point  where  he  spoke  the  freight  rates  applicable 
to  that  point  and  then  compare  them  with  the  rates 
equidistant  from  Chicago  or  other  points  in  Illinois  and 
Iowa  to  prove  that  AVisconsin  paid  higher  rates. 

Speeches  of  this  character  were  delivered  at  Plymouth, 
Appleton,  Eau  Claire,  Madison,  Evansville,  Antigo, 
Rhinelander,  LaCrosse,  Chippewa  Falls,  and  other  places 
and  proved  a  successful  experiment.  Ordinarily,  sta 
tistics  and  figures  are  repellent  to  an  audience,  but  in 
these  instances  the  interest  of  the  hearers  was  held  in 
spite  of  them.  The  governor  had  an  orator's  trick  of 
making  even  statistics  musical.  The  significance  of  fig 
ures  lies  in  their  highest  denomination — hence  he  would 
shout  "Fifteen  million,"  for  instance,  and  give  the  re 
mainder  "three  hundred  thirty-five  thousand,  two  hun 
dred  fifty-seven  dollars  and  fifteen  cents,"  in  a  rapid 
liquid  diminuendo,  which  not  infrequently  raised  a 
laugh. 

But  it  was  not  from  the  political  platform  alone  that 
LaFollette  gave  his  attention  to  the  railroads.  fAt  the 
legislative  session  of  1903  a  law  had  been  enactecl  pro 
viding  for  an  examination  by  the  railroad  commissioner 
into  the  books  and  accounts  of  the  railroad  companies  to 
ascertain  if  the  railroads  had  been  reporting  the  full 
amount  of  their  returns  on  which  they  paid  license  fees  to 
the  state.  While  this  work  was  in  progress  Governor 
LaFollette,  on  February  10,  1904,  directed  Railroad 
Commissioner  Thomas,  in  connection  with  his  investiga 
tion  into  the  subject  of  back  taxes,  to  report  the  names  of 
all  persons  to  whom  the  railroads  under  investigation  had 
issued  passes  in  1903  and  during  January  and  February, 


READING  OF  FREIGHT  RATES 

1904.  It  might  be  remarked  here  that  in  spite  of  the 
legislation  of  1899  the  railroad  pass  died  hard.  Many 
persons  continued  to  obtain  and  use  it  through  one  sub 
terfuge  or  another.  When,  therefore,  the  governor  di 
rected  the  investigation  toward  the  subject  of  passes  he 
placed  his  finger  upon  a  tender  spot.  And  it  may  here 
be  said  that  the  state  did  not  obtain  the  names — except 
from  some  of  the  smaller  roads— as  it  had  not  then  the 
specific  authority  to  force  the  information.  Whether  or 
not  the  larger  roads  had  agreed  to  refuse  the  request  of 
the  state  is  not  known.  President  Hughitt  of  the  Chi 
cago  &  Northwestern  road  stated  that  he  was  willing  to 
give  the  desired  information  for  his  road  providing  the 
other  roads  would  do  likewise.  President  Earling  of 
the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  road,  however,  was 
obdurate.  On  March  23,  1904,  he  addressed  a  com 
munication  of  some  length  to  Commissioner  Thomas  in 
which  he  exchanged  legal  thrusts  with  the  governor. 
Governor  LaFollette  had  declared  that  such  information 
was  pertinent  to  the  inquiry  to  determine  if  the  railroads 
had  reported  fully  the  gross  earnings  on  which  they 
were  paying  a  four  per  cent  license  fee.  President  Ear- 
ling  said  that  the  law  required  the  railroad  commissioner 
to  report  to  the  state  treasurer  the  total  "gross  receipts" 
of  the  roads,  but  that  passes,  mileage  books,  etc.,  could 
not  be  considered  as  earnings.  He  held  that  the  names 
of  persons  to  whom  passes  had  been  issued  were  "obvi 
ously  irrelevant  to  any  legitimate  inquiry."  He  was 
willing  to  aid  in  reporting  gross  earnings,  "but  your 
present  request  at  the  demand  of  the  governor,"  he  said, 
"is  so  clearly  improper  that  I  must  respectfully  decline 
to  comply  therewith."  The  "Soo"  officials  presented 
the  list  of  passes  given  by  their  road,  but  refused  to  per 
mit  any  record  to  be  made  of  them,  holding  there  had 
been  no  violation  of  the  law  as  none  had  been  issued  to 
public  officials  or  candidates,  the  only  ones  receiving 
them  being  officials  and  employes  of  the  road. 


-84  LA-L'OLLETTE  'S     WINNING    OF     WISCONSIN 

The  state  finally  abandoned  the  attempt  to  obtain  this 
information,  but  in  the  legislative  session  of  1905  a  law 
was  enacted  requiring  all  railroads  to  file  their  lists  of 
passes  with  the  state.  Other  legislation  making  clearer 
the  law  also  was  enacted. 

With  the  pass,  by  the  way,  another  cherished  institu 
tion  was  to  be  consigned  to  the  limbo  of  things  that  were 
during  the  LaFollette  regime.  This  was  the  newspaper 
mileage  book.  Previous  to  LaFollette 's  time  the  rail 
roads  had  been  liberal  to  newspaper  men  and  their  fam 
ilies,  who  were  generally  able  to  ride  "free,"  not  only 
within  the  state,  but  throughout  the  whole  country. 
Editorial  junketing  trips,  not  only  individually,  but  in 
parties,  to  Florida,  California  or  New  York,  were  a  gen 
eral  and  genteel  privilege  of  the  craft.  Of  course  the 
newspapers  in  return  carried  time  tables  and  other  ad 
vertising  of  the  roads  "free"  and  generally  conserved 
the  interests  of  the  roads  otherwise. 

With  the  enactment  of  anti-pass  legislation  the  LaFol 
lette  administration  took  the  position  that  consistency 
demanded  that  advertising  be  recognized  as  an  expense 
item  and  that  transportation  issued  therefor  could  not  be 
withheld  in  statements  of  gross  earnings.  Commissioner 
Thomas  reported  that  in  the  seven  years  between  1897 
and  1904  the  railroads  had  issued  $986,728  worth  of 
transportation  in  Wisconsin,  which  under  the  four  per 
cent  license  fee  should  have  brought  into  the  state  treas 
ury  $39,469.12  in  taxes.  Under  the  new  ruling  the  rail 
roads  were  obliged  to  pay  for  their  advertising  and  the 
newspaper  men  to  pay  for  their  rides ;  the  cherished  ad 
vertising  mileage  book  disappeared  and  the  tears  of 
editorial  households  were  long  undried. 

Naturally  these  addresses  were  not  without  incident. 
At  the  Dane  county  fair  at  Madison  where  the  gov 
ernor  spoke  September  3,  Madison  stalwarts  attempted 
to  create  prejudice  against  him  by  secretly  flooding 


READING  OF  FREIGHT  RATES  285 

the  grounds  before  he  spoke  with  anonymous  circulars 
headed  "Governor  LaFollette 's  Reforms."  The  cir 
culars  contained  cartoons  and  newspaper  clippings,  re 
cited  the  school  book  charges  and  other  political  history 
and  advised  his  hearers  to  "make  a  note  of  his  figures, 
remember  the  names  of  the  men  he  denounces  and  look 
up  the  records  yourself."  A  warning  shot  was  given 
the  governor  in  conclusion  by  quoting  Lincoln's  words, 
"You  can  fool  some  of  the  people  all  of  the  time,"  etc. 

The  governor  spoke  from  a  wagon  standing  in  a  broil 
ing  sun.  He  was  introduced  by  S.  L.  Sheldon,  president 
of  the  Dane  County  Agricultural  Society,  who,  how 
ever,  appeared  to  have  temporarily  forgotten  the  name 
of  his  famous  townsman  and  near  neighbor,  so  that  it 
became  necessary  for  a  bystander  to  audibly  inform  him 
that  the  name  of  Wisconsin's  executive  was  "LaFol- 
lette."  Here  also  formidable  statistical  tables  were  read. 

Commenting  on  the  speech  the  State  Journal  said: 
1 '  The  crowd  was  slim  and  the  applause  thin.  The  spell 
is  broken  in  Dane  county." 

With  the  public  mind  so  inflamed  there  were  natur 
ally  sharp  divisions  in  certain  county  fair  directorates 
over  the  question  of  inviting  the  governor  to  speak.  The 
stalwart  press  said  the  governor  and  his  men  forced 
themselves  upon  fair  managements,  and  it  denounced  the 
practice  of  mixing  the  exhibits  with  politics,  saying  it 
would  prove  destructive  to  the  fairs,  although  the  gov 
ernor  was  a  strong  drawing  card.  Especially  was  there 
protest  against  inviting  him  to  the  interstate  fair  at 
LaCrosse.  This  meeting,  where  he  spoke  to  ten  thousand 
people,  had  a  number  of  incidents.  The  governor  was 
met  at  the  station  by  a  brass  band  and  a  big  delegation 
of  prominent  citizens  and  fair  officials.  As  the  parade 
,  set  out  for  the  fair  grounds  a  carriage  containing  Post 
master  E.  W.  Keyes  and  family  of  Madison  swung  in 
from  a  side  street  in  front  of  it.  The  judge  thus  finding 
himself  heading  the  parade  ordered  his  driver  to  whip 


286  LAFOLLETTE  's     WINNING     OF     WISCONSIN 

up  the  horses,  but  the  animals  were  already  tired  and  as 
the  carriages  behind  were  hurrying  to  get  the  governor 
to  the  grounds  on  time  the  judge's  driver  made  no  gain. 
Here  then  the  grand  old  man  of  Wisconsin  stalwartism 
found  himself  leading  a  Roman  holiday  procession  in 
honor  of  LaFollette  with  a  brass  band  in  full  blast  behind 
him.  Block  after  block  they  went  with  no  chance  to 
escape.  When  they  finally  arrived  at  the  fair  ground 
gates  the  judge  relinquished  the  advantage  of  immediate 
admission  and  drove  to  one  side,  preferring  to  take  the 
dust  of  the  half  breeds  to  continue  leading  the  procession 
into  the  grounds. 

There  were  many  interruptions  at  this  meeting.  Once 
when  the  governor  declared  there  was  no  politics  in  rail 
way  regulation  someone  in  the  crowd  called  out : 

"Oh,  yes,  there  is." 

"Well,  not  to  me,"  replied  the  governor.  "No  cam 
paign  will  end  this  so  far  as  I  am  concerned  so  long  as 
I  have  breath  left  in  my  body." 

Again  something  of  a  stir  was  produced  when  the  gov 
ernor  read  a  letter  sent  him  by  a  United  States  senator 
saying  it  was  impossible  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the 
interstate  commerce  commission  because  the  railroads 
owned  too  many  United  States  senators. 

From  LaCrosse  Governor  LaFollette  transferred  to 
Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  to  speak  in  the  evening  at  a  Metho 
dist  conference.  In  his  merciless  arraignment  at  this 
meeting  of  recreant  public  officials  the  governor  occa 
sionally  drew  forth  a  fervent  "amen."  The  next  day 
he  was  sharply  criticized  in  the  stalwart  press  for  thus 
playing  on  the  credulity  and  feelings  of  long-whiskered, 
innocent  old  men  and  inviting  nervous  breakdown  on 
their  part. 

Thus  drew  toward  its  close  the  memorable  year  of  1903 
with  the  issues  clarifying  and  the  battle  lines  forming  for 
the  great  final  struggle  between  the  old  and  the  new 
orders  which  all  recognized  was  impending. 


CHAPTER  XX 
The  Decisive  Year  of  1904. 

ANNUS  MIRABILIS  IN  STATE  HISTORY — CAMPAIGN  THAT  DETER 
MINED  ISSUE  OF  POPULAR  GOVERNMENT  IN  WISCONSIN — "LAFoL- 
LETTEISM"  OVERSHADOWS  ALL  OTHER  QUESTIONS — STALWART 
LACK  or  LEADERSHIP — BAENSCH  ANNOUNCES  CANDIDACY — EARLY 
INCIDENTS  OF  YEAR — BARBER-STURTEVANT  LETTERS — BURNING  OF 
CAPITOL — ADMINISTRATION  SEEKS  DEFEAT  OF  CONGRESSMAN  BAB- 
COCK — SIGNIFICANT  SUPREME  COURT  ELECTION. 

IN  WISCONSIN  political  history  the  year  1904  stands 
as  the  annus  jnirabilis.  It  was  to  mark  the  ' '  farthest 
north"  of  the  later  confederacy  opposed  to  the  new  move 
ment  and  determined  to  maintain  its  privileges.  In  the 
intensity  of  the  passions  aroused,  in  desperate,  relent 
less,  dramatic  warfare  no  other  campaign  in  the  state's 
history  approximates  this  one.  For  a  year  preceding  its 
close  dramatic  events  trod  one  another's  heels.  The 
entire  state  was  rent  in  twain  and  every  political  party 
disrupted  over  the  burning  issue  of  "  LaFolletteism. " 
It  has  been  estimated  that  a  half  million  dollars  was 
spent  in  the  state  in  that  period  for  the  defeat  of  LaFol- 
lette.  That  the  sum  was  something  enormous  is  gen 
erally  admitted.  According  to  the  admission  of  a  sworn 
witness,  the  Hill  interests  of  Minnesota  alone  sent  many 
men  into  the  state  to  help  in  the  fight  upon  the  gov 
ernor.  In  the  great  battle  waged  that  year  was  finally 
settled  the  issue  of  popular  government  in  Wiscon 
sin.  Eeforms  have  come  easily  since  the  way  was  then 
blazed  through  fire  and  blood,  as  it  were,  to  ultimate 
victory.  A  governor's  message  with  a  score  of  proposi 
tions,  any  one  of  which  ten  years  ago  would  have  raised 
a  storm  of  protest  and  denunciation,  now  creates  scarcely 
a  ripple  in  the  public  mind. 


288  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

In  fact  it  may  almost  be  said  that  there  has  been  no 
"politics"  in  Wisconsin  since  this  memorable  campaign. 
While  at  times  there  has  been  no  little  apparent  excite 
ment  it  has  been  largely  of  a  manufactured  character ; 
the  interested  politicians,  not  the  people,  have  been  ex 
ercised.  There  has  been  no  stirring  of  the  depths  of  the 
electorate.  This  is  indicated  by  a  study  of  the  votes  cast 
in  the  elections  of  the  past  decade  and  a  half.  The  offi 
cial  total  vote  on  governor  in  the  successive  elections 
during  that  period  follows: 

VOTE  ON  GOVERNOR 

1900  440,897 

1902  365,643 

1904  .'.  449,560 

1906  319,746 

1908  449,677 

1910  319,462 

1912  393,651 

1914  325,430 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  in  only  one  election,  that  of 
the  presidential  year  of  1908,  has  the  vote  of  1904  been 
exceeded,  and  then  only  by  the  paltry  excess  of  117. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  population  of  the  state  increased 
264,818  in  the  decade  from  1900  to  1910,  the  total  in 
1900  being  2,069,042  and  in  1910,  2,333,860.  At  the 
same  rate  of  growth  the  increase  in  population  from  1900 
to  '1915  would  be  about  462,000.  At  the  generally  ac 
cepted  average  of  one  voter  in  every  five  of  population 
this  increase  should  have  added  92,400  to  the  voting 
strength  of  the  state.  In  round  numbers  the  voting  loss 
from  1900  to  1914  was  115,000.  If  to  this  be  added  the 
92,400  new  votes  the  stay-at-home  vote  in  1914  will  be 
found  to  have  been  over  178,000. 

The  story  of  the  great  fight  of  1904  has  been  told  over 
and  over  again,  in  newspaper  and  magazine  articles,  in 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904  289 

briefs  of  attorneys  and  in  hundreds  of  pages  of  testimony 
and  affidavits  before  courts  and  political  committees — 
the  legal  proceedings  alone  covering  over  1,200  pages — 
yet  many  interesting  phases  and  incidents  of  it  have 
never  been  recorded. 

Had  LaFollette,  in  observance  of  precedents,  retired 
at  the  end  of  his  second  term  his  long  ten-year  fight  might 
have  been  largely  for  naught.  The  primary  bill  had 
been  passed,  but  there  was  a  possibility  of  its  defeat  at 
the  polls ;  the  rate  commission  and  maximum  freight  bills 
had  been  killed;  the  ad  valorem  bill  had  been  enacted, 
but  there  was  no  bar  to  an  increase  of  rates  to  defeat  the 
ends  of  the  law.  In  a  new  governor  and  a  new  legisla 
ture  the  opposition  saw  a  possibility  of  defeating  all 
LaFollette 's  agitations. 

It  was  the  determination  of  the  governor  again  to  be 
a  candidate  that  made  inevitable  the  mighty  struggle  of 
that  year.  It  was  a  critical  time  for  LaFollette,  follow 
ing  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature  in  1903.  He  fully 
realized  the  great  fight  that  would  be  waged  against  him 
in  case  he  sought  a  third  term.  He  knew  that  his  enemies 
would  make  much  of  the  fact  that  it  would  be  the  sixth 
time  he  was  making  a  bid  for  the  nomination  and  the 
fifth  time  for  himself,  and  would  urge  that  it  was  "time 
he  took  a  back  seat  and  gave  someone  else  a  chance." 
While  unable  to  prevent  his  nomination  in  1900  and 
again  in  1902,  they  had  succeeded  in  so  far  defeating 
most  of  the  measures  which  he  had  championed.  They 
now  expected  to  see  him  retire  from  the  field  and  cease 
to  be  a  thorn  in  their  sides.  That  done,  they  believed 
they  could  continue  to  hold  the  legislature,  prevent  the 
enactment  of  any  more  of  his  agitations  and  if  he  could 
be  barred  from  the  seat  in  the  United  States  senate  held 
by  Joseph  V.  Quarles,  to  which  it  was  suspected  he 
aspired,  it  was  thought  he  might  be  made  a  political 
' '  back  number ' '  for  years.  To  that  end  a  supreme  effort 

19 


290  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   or   WISCONSIN 

was  now  determined  upon  for  the  retention  of  Quarles 
and  the  election  of  a  governor  and  legislature  that  would 
be  "safe."  The  two-term  precedent  it  was  felt  would 
be  a  difficult  argument  to  meet.  True,  Governors  Fair- 
child  and  Rusk  had  each  been  elected  a  third  term,  but 
they  were  popular  idols,  old  soldiers  with  peculiar  ele 
ments  of  popularity.  Xo  one  else  had  ever  had  the 
temerity  to  ask  for  a  third  term  and  there  had  hitherto 
been  practically  no  third  term  sentiment  or  precedent. 
But  with  characteristic  blindness  the  opposition  had 
simply  paved  the  way  for  LaFollette 's  continued  ad 
vancement.  Had  his  opponents  permitted  the  enactment 
of  the  measures  which  he  urged  LaFollette  probably 
would  have  retired  at  the  end  of  his  second  term  and  in 
two  years  of  retirement  to  private  life  might  have  lost 
much  of  his  prestige  and  weakened  his  chances  for  the 
senate.  As  it  was,  they  simply  gave  him  a  new  issue 
with  which  to  remain  before  the  people,  and  LaFollette 
was  shrewd  enough  to  know  that  nothing  succeeds  before 
-  an  electorate  like  an  issue.  It  had  always  been  his  line 
of  battle.  When  storms  had  raged  the  fiercest  about  his 
head,  when  ridicule,  vituperation  and  charges  of  official 
misconduct  filled  the  press  and  flew  the  thickest  around 
him,  he,  to  the  wonder  of  many,  seldom  descended  to 
notice  or  explain  them,  scarcely  ever  interjected  a  per 
sonality,  but  rather  held  clear-eyed  to  the  issue  in  hand 
and  pressed  it  relentlessly  home.  This  course  proved  his 
political  sagacity.  It  had  not  only  the  effect  of  magnify 
ing  his  own  issue,  but  left  the  charges  of  his  enemies, 
undignified  by  notice,  to  wither  and  be  buried  in  the 
,  flow  of  his  argument.  His  had  always  been  a  positive 
'  campaign ;  that  of  his  enemies  too  often  a  negative.  They 
had  not  the  wisdom  to  meet  issue  with  counter-issue. 

So  again  it  was  given  LaFollette  to  astound  his  ene 
mies  by  doing  the  unexpected,  by  taking  the  course  they 
neither  expected  nor  desired  him  to  follow.  He  may  not 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904  291 

himself  have  anticipated  that  out  of  his  very  defeat  he 
was  to  snatch  a  greater  victory  than  any  earlier  success 
could  have  given  him.  There  was,  however,  but  one 
consistent  course  now  open.  He  had  set  out  with  the 
zeal  of  a  Jesuit,  with  a  definite  end  in  view,  that  of  writ 
ing  upon  the  statute  books  of  the  state  certain  reforms 
which  in  his  clear  vision  he  saw  the  interests  of  the  whole 
people  demanded.  In  the  main  these  had  so  far  been 
defeated.  To  abandon  them  now  would  not  only  have 
been  the  highest  cowardice,  but  a  confession  of  defeat,  a 
desertion  and  betrayal  of  the  people,  perhaps  the  digging 
of  his  own  political  grave.  A  smaller  or  weaker  man 
would  have  yielded  the  fight  to  other  hands,  given  over 
to  the  compromises  or  overtures  of  the  enemy  or  feath 
ered  his  own  nest  with  some  lucrative,  if  more  obscure, 
position. 

Conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  third-term  idea  was  not 
popular,  it  was  yet  realized  by  the  governor  that  he  far 
more  than  any  other  man  was  the  incarnation  of  his 
principles ;  it  was  essential  to  their  success  that  he  again 
be  a  candidate;  he  alone  had  the  courage,  the  resource 
fulness,  the  prestige,  the  popularity,  to  carry  them 
through  to  success.  Furthermore,  he  had,  so  far,  largely 
failed  and  he  was  not  of  the  mettle  to  turn  his  hand  from 
the  plow  and  ingloriously  surrender  the  principles  for 
which  he  and  his  element  of  the  party  had  so  long  con 
tended.  It  was  equally  necessary  that  a  legislature  of  the 
right  kind  be  elected.  All  things  conspired  to  make 
plain  that  the  line  of  duty  and  expediency  was  to  con 
tinue  the  fight  so  well  begun  and  make  another  appeal 
to  the  people. 

But,  as  has  been  said,  the  governor  and  his  friends 
realized  the  great  crisis  ahead  and  the  great  odds  they 
would  have  to  meet.  This  would  be  the  final  and  the 
greatest  effort  of  the  opposition  to  unhorse  him.  Not 
only  would  the  great  bulk  of  the  wealth  of  the  state  be 


292  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF  WISCONSIN 

thrown  in  the  balance  against  him,  but  the  railroads 
would  turn  in  with  their  enormous  power.  The  metro 
politan  press,  almost  without  exception,  was  on  "the 
other  side"  and  many  of  the  smaller  papers  of  the  state 
remained  true  to  the  stalwart  subsidy.  Many  friends, 
too,  would  doubtless  weary  of  the  long  fight  and  take  a 
passive,  if  not  hostile,  stand  relative  to  its  continuance. 
Finally,  there  was  the  powerful  influence  of  the  federal 
machine,  with  two  United  States  senators,  several  con 
gressmen,  and  an  army  of  five  thousand  federal  employes 
of  the  state,  postmasters,  revenue  collectors,  court  offi 
cials,  etc.,  nearly  all  of  whom  would  take  the  field  ac 
tively  against  him,  as  they  had  been  picked  for  years 
with  the  end  in  view  of  building  up  an  organization  that 
would  destroy  that  of  the  governor.  It  was  a  combina 
tion  to  daunt  any  but  the  stoutest  heart.  LaFollette  had 
little  behind  him  but  his  burning  faith  and  his  clarion 
voice.  He  had  the  prophetic  vision,  however,  to  see  that 
an  awakening  was  impending  in  America,  in  bringing 
about  which  he  was  to  prove  one  of  the  most  potential 
pioneers.  The  people  were  rising  to  a  new  conception, 
and  a  new  exercise  of  their  political  prerogatives.  As  if 
paraphrasing  the  old  saying  relative  to  the  making  of 
the  laws  and  the  songs  of  a  nation,  he  cared  not  what 
course  the  opposition  followed  if  he  could  but  gain  the 
ear  of  the  common  people.  He  realized  that  for  every 
one  in  purple  and  fine  linen  arrayed  against  him  there 
were  ten  sons  of  Martha  serving  with  their  hands,  and 
if  of  meaner  clay  they  were  yet  presumably  made  in  the 
image  of  God  and  guaranteed  under  the  constitution  an 
equal  right  at  the  polls  with  the  most  imperious  bene 
ficiary  of  privilege.  He  had  faith  that  the  ten  would 
sustain  him  if  they  could  be  made  to  see  the  light  and 
were  given  a  free  hand.  To  borrow  a  later  phrase,  '  *  his 
faith  in  the  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  was 
elemental. ' ' 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAK  OF  1904 


293 


Yet,  many  of  his  good  friends  sought  to  dissuade  the 
governor.  They  pointed  out  what  a  campaign  of  educa 
tion  was  imperative  to  success.  ' '  Besides,  all  the  money 
in  the  state  is  against  us, ' '  said  one  timid  follower,  ' '  and 
we,  as  usual,  have  nothing." 

"Oh,  no,  it  isn't  all  against  us,"  replied  the  hopeful 
governor;  "there  are  lots  of  honest  wealthy  men  who 
will  be  with  us,  as  you  will  see.  Besides,  what  haven't 
we  done  in  the  past  without  money?  That  should  be 
an  earnest  for  the  future.  You  know  there  is  nothing 
that  will  put  a  man  on  his  mettle  like  playing  poker 
short  of  cash." 

The  administration  was  not  long  in  determining  upon 
its  course.  Its  extraordinary  forehandedness  is  seen 
in  the  fact  that  as  early  as  August  7,  1903,  the  writer 
of  this  work  printed  an  inspired  newspaper  story  to  the 
effect  that  Governor  LaFollette  had  already  planned  a 
comprehensive  coup  for  the  following  year  which  in 
cluded  his  candidacy  for  a  third  term,  the  holding  of  the 
next  state  convention  in  May — two  months  earlier  than 
usual,  and  again  in  Madison, — and  the  holding  of 
caucuses  for  the  election  of  delegates  as  early  as  Febru- 

PROMINENT   FIGURES  IN   CAMPAIGNS   1900-04 


294  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

ary.  Party  precedent  was  to  be  further  overturned  by 
combining  in  one  convention  the  nomination  of  candi 
dates  for  state  offices  and  the  election  of  delegates  to  the 
national  convention.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this 
was  the  identical  program  later  carried  out.  The  article 
follows : 

TO  CAPTURE  STATE  DELEGATION  NEXT 


THIS  THE  END  Now  SOUGHT  BY  THE  ADMINISTRATION 


EARLY  STATE  CONVENTION  IS  PLANNED 


May  Be  Held  in  May  and  Again  in  Madison  That  the  Governor 

May  Have  Freer  Hand  in  Directing  Proceedings — Gumshoe 

People  Not  Making  Much  Noise  but  Quietly  Working. 


Governor  LaFollette  is  not  going  to  take  a  rest.  He  is  now  on 
a  round  of  Chautauqua  addresses  throughout  the  country  which 
will  take  him  as  far  east  as  Maryland  and  on  his  return  will  start 
on  a  series  of  county  fair  talks,  speaking  in  every  section  through 
out  the  state. 

That  he  has  planned  a  gigantic  coup  for  next  year  is  not  to  be 
doubted.  The  plan  now  under  consideration,  said  a  prominent  half 
breed  in  the  capitol,  is  the  capture  of  the  state  delegation  to  the 
national  convention  next  year,  thus  depriving  the  stalwarts  of  the 
prestige  such  victory"  would  give  them.  Each  congressional  district 
will  send  two  delegates,  and  it  is  probable  that  these  will  be  elected 
in  January  or  February.  This  will  be  the  first  test  of  strength. 
Then  it  is  planned  to  elect  the  four  at  large  from  the  state  at  the 
same  time  the  state  officers  are  nominated.  To  tMs  end  the  state 
convention  is  to  be  held  earlier  than  usual,  probably  in  May,  and 
again  in  Madison  that  the  governor  may  have  a  freer  hand  in 
dominating  the  gathering.  The  governor  is  to  be  a  candidate 
again  and  while  many  are  urging  him  to  contest  the  seat  of  Senator 
Quarles,  the  majority  of  his  friends  want  to  see  him  elected  gov 
ernor  again,  and  his  reforms  inaugurated,  if  possible,  leaving  the 
senatorship  to  the  future. 

In  the  same  issue  of  August  7,  1903,  the  State  Journal 
under  the  editorial  caption  "Let's  Fight  With  Clubs" 
had  declared  aggressive  war  on  LaFollette  's  new  designs, 
saying : 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904  295 

The  Sentinel  is  said  to  be  operated  on  the  principle  that  it  is  a 
mistake  to  advertise  LaFollette  too  much.  This  theory  should  be 
discarded  at  once.  Governor  Bob  has  passed  the  point  where  he 
fears  neglect.  The  only  way  to  dislodge  him  is  to  take  him  by 
the  rhetorical  seat  of  the  pants  and  throw  him  down  hard.  Make 
it  clear  that  he  fattens  on  trouble.  Every  man  with  a  dollar  saved, 
with  a  business,  a  home  paid  for,  a  farm  part  paid  for,  should 
beware  the  success  of  LaFolletteism.  The  iron  has  entered  his 
soul  and  prosperity  acts  on  him  like  a  red  rag  on  a  bull. 

A  great  weakness  of  the  stalwart  cause  was  its  lack  of- 
able,  inspiring  leadership.  In  this  respect  it  contrasted 
pitifully  with  the  movement  led  by  the  magnetic  LaFol 
lette.  Especially  was  it  lacking  in  available  candidates 
for  public  favor  to  pit  against  the  aggressive  governor. 

The  leaders  finally  came  to  a  sort  of  agreement  upon 
Judge  Emil  Baensch  of  Manitowoc  for  the  candidate  for 
governor  in  the  coming  campaign.  Baensch  was  a  Ger 
man-American  editor,  honest,  of  high  abilities,  but  lack 
ing  in  needed  qualities  of  leadership.  He  had  served  a 
term  as  lieutenant  governor.  His  political  weakness  at 
this  stressful  time  when  all  red-blooded  thinking  men 
were  taking  positions  was  revealed  in  the  fact  that  he  was 
heralded  as  a  non-factionalist,  free  from  any  embarrass 
ing  alliances.  He  was  to  be  a  "  harmony ' '  candidate  and 
as  early  as  December  10,  1903,  he  announced  his  candi 
dacy  with  the  plea :  ' '  Let  us  have  a  new  alignment  that 
will  stamp  out  factionalism.  There  are  no  irreconcilable 
differences.  Our  greatest  concern  today  should  be  the 
unification  of  the  party." 

Former  Congressman  Samuel  A.  Cook  of  Neenah,  also 
soon  entered  the  field  as  a  "harmony"  candidate,  but 
the  general  feeling  was  that  the  Baensch  and  Cook  forces 
would  eventually  unite.  Cook  was  a  wealthy  lumber 
man,  a  self-made  man  with  many  attractive  qualities,  but 
not  fitted  to  lead  an  aggressive  fight. 

The  defeat  of  the  governor  was  to  be  brought  about,  if 
possible,  through  the  caucuses.  Hence,  it  was  deter- 


296  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

mined  to  organize  every  county  against  him.  To  carry 
out  this  elaborate  campaign  a  committee  of  seven  was 
announced  by  Judge  Baensch  January  14.  Heading  this 
committee  was  Philip  L.  Spooner  of  Madison,  brother  of 
Senator  Spooner;  the  other  members  being  S.  A.  Peter 
son  of  Rice  Lake,  former  state  treasurer ;  G.  B.  Clement- 
son  of  Lancaster,  S.  F.  Mayer  of  "West  Bend,  C.  E.  Brady 
of  Manitowoc,  Otis  W.  Johnson  of  Racine,  J.  B.  Treat 
of  Monroe,  M.  B.  Rosenberry  of  Wausau,  J.  L.  Sturte- 
vant  of  Waupaca  and  H.  H.  Morgan  of  Madison.  A 
sub-committee  of  three,  headed  by  Mr.  Spooner,  was  di 
rected  to  open  headquarters  and  establish  a  base  of  sup 
plies  in  Madison.  Office  rooms  were  engaged  in  the 
Vroman  block,  a  choice  stock  of  cigars  and  Philipp's 
"Red  Book"  on  the  railroads  laid  in  and  a  corps  of 
clerks  and  stenographers  set  to  work. 

A  university  student,  Ralph  B.  Ellis,  was  engaged  at 
$20  per  week  to  furnish  syndicate  pictorial  lampoons  of 
the  governor  and  did  so  well  that  orders  were  once  ac 
tually  sent  out  to  stop  the  presses  and  throw  out  a  car 
toon  representing  Governor  LaFollette,  with  diabolical 
countenance,  sticking  a  dirk  under  the  fifth  rib  of  ' '  Miss 
Forward"  (Wisconsin).  It  was  feared  this  was  "too 
strong"  and  would  react  to  the  governor's  advantage. 
The  literary  end  of  the  committee  was  Mr.  Sturtevant, 
then  editor  of  a  weekly  paper  at  Waupaca.  Like  most 
of  the  leading  opponents  of  LaFollette,  he  was  not  a 
native  of  the  state  and  had  lived  in  it  but  a  few  j^ears, 
so  knew  little  of  its  traditions  and  temper.  The  dangers 
of  LaFolletteism,  it  was  said,  had  dawned  upon  him 
about  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  so-called  ' '  eleventh 
story  league." 

The  new  dispensation  to  oppressed  mankind,  remarked 
a  wag  at  the  time,  was  not  to  suffer  the  handicap  of  the 
Koran  of  Mahomet  in  having  to  be  first  transcribed  on 
the  shoulder  blades  of  sheep.  No,  it  was  to  have  an  up- 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904  297 

to-date  organ,  a  daily  newspaper  printed  on  a  revolving 
press ;  the  only  press  of  its  kind  in  the  city,  and  capable 
of  such  speed  that  when  let  out  to  its  full  coltish  limit 
it  would  run  off  the  full  edition  of  the  paper  before  it 
could  be  stopped.  This  new  official  organ  was  the  Wis 
consin  State  Journal  at  Madison. 

For  $1,800  the  committee  was  to  have  free  swing  in 
its  columns  until  the  caucuses  in  Dane  county  were  all 
over.  Old  Dane  was  to  be  the  great  strategic  prize.  If 
that  could  be  taken  from  under  the  governor  it  was  be 
lieved  many  other  counties  would  fall  in  line  and  re 
pudiate  the  prophet  without  honor  at  home. 

The  sudden  and  aggressive  activity  of  the  State  Jour 
nal  at  this  time  led  the  administration  to  issue  an  eight- 
page  pamphlet  entitled  "Mr.  Wilder  as  a  Plain  Repub 
lican  and  Dr.  Wilder  as  a  Stalwart,"  for  which  publica 
tion  Charles  G.  Riley  of  Madison  stood  sponsor.  The 
pamphlet  was  on  the  "deadly  parallel"  order  in  which 
the  State  Journal's  earlier  endorsement  and  laudation 
of  LaFollette's  appointments  and  course  in  general,  "be 
fore  the  great  change  came  upon  it, ' '  were  pitted  against 
its  later  denunciations  of  the  same  things.  Through  this 
pamphlet  an  editorial  from  Dr.  Wilder 's  pen  returned  to 
plague  him  sorely,  as  he  had  feared  it  might.  The 
editorial,  which  appeared  in  the  State  Journal  in  Sep 
tember,  1903,  cast  an  interesting  light  on  the  political 
situation  and  read  in  part  as  follows : 

The  policy  of  this  paper  was  changed  in  a  day.  .  .  .  For  a 
year  we  stood  off  the  giants  of  the  party.  They  climbed  the  stairs 
in  all  the  moods  of  tempestuous  nature.  They  swore  and  threat 
ened  and  pleaded  and  offered  us  things  -we  needed  sorely.  Mona- 
han  wanted  to  talk  it  over;  Hughitt  wrote  (Hughitt  was  president 
of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Eailroad  company)  ;  Uncle  Hod 
wrote  with  cold  steel  pen  and  shunned  euphonisms;  Harry  Mor 
gan,  Ray  Frazier  and  the  younger  generation  didn't  want  to  inter 
fere  with  the  conduct  of  the  paper,  but  "would  suggest, "  and 
Judge  Keyes  said  things  in  a  spirited  way  and  rapped  his  cane 


298  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF  WISCONSIN 

upon  the  floor.  Underground  connections  were  made  with  Wash 
ington  and  no  stone  was  left  unturned  to  unhorse  the  present  man 
agement. 

This  editorial,  by  the  way,  had  been  written  weeks  be 
fore  it  was  printed  and  was  read  by  the  editor  to  certain 
members  of  his  staff.  ' '  I  am  afraid  to  print  it  though. ' ' 
said  Dr.  Wilder.  However,  he  was  proud  of  its  literary 
strength  and  cleverness  and  one  day  in  a  moment  of 
abandon  he  ordered  it  to  run.  Lord  Beaconsfield  once 
declared  that  he  wrote  a  drama  simply  to  lay  the  ghost 
of  a  story  that  was  haunting  him.  The  drama  failing 
the  ghost  was  laid.  For  a  similar  reason,  no  doubt,  this 
editorial  was  printed,  but  the  literary  ghost  in  this  in 
stance  was  not  to  be  kept  down.  Of  the  editorial  Mr. 
Riley  said  in  part : 

The  Journal  editor  finally  yielded  although  he  does  not  tell 
us  just  what  it  was  that  did  the  business.  We  are  left  to  con 
jecture  whether  it  was  the  vigorous  rapping  of  Keyes'  cane  or 
something  in  the  letter  that  Hughitt  wrote.  Perhaps  the  learned 
doctor  concluded  to  take  the  * '  things ' '  which  were  ' '  offered ' '  him 
and  which  he  ' '  sorely  needed. ' '  Whatever  it  was  Wilder  ' '  before 
taking"  and  Wilder  " after  taking"  printed  in  parallel  columns 
would  make  interesting  reading. 

Dr.  Wilder  himself  never  gave  the  reason  for  his 
' l  great  change, ' '  but  once  intimated  that  it  followed  the 
spending  of  an  evening  at  the  executive  residence. 

The  Dane  county  committee  having  set  the  early  date 
of  April  18  for  Dane  county,  fell  in  nicely  with  the  stal 
wart  plans,  as  most  of  the  caucuses  would  be  held  later. 
The  committee  demurred  a  little  at  paying  $1,800.  It  was 
quite  a  sum  for  just  one  county  and  of  course  there  would 
be  a  thousand  other  hoppers  that  would  have  to  be  filled. 
But  the  editor  was  a  shrewd  and  obdurate  Yankee.  He 
would  have  liked  to  further  the  great  cause  gratuitously, 
he  said,  but  he  and  the  paper  were  both  desperately  hard 
up.  Like  Oxford,  the  paper  had  long  been  the  home  of 
lost  causes,  unpopular  names  and  impossible  loyalties, 
and  had  suffered  accordingly.  He  might  as  well,  he 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904  299 

said  afterwards,  have  screwed  his  price  up  a  few  notches 
higher.  The  State  Journal  was  also  the  official  state 
paper  at  the  time — the  administration  being  obliged  to 
promulgate  through  its  columns  everything  of  an  official 
character.  It  thus,  humorously  enough,  became  a  sort 
of  organ  of  both  the  administration  and  the  opposition 
and  drew  tribute  from  each,  a  playing  of  both  ends 
against  the  middle,  which  brought  the  usual  embarrass 
ment.  A  number  of  desperate  efforts  by  the  administra 
tion  to  deprive  it  of  its  official  pap,  and  even  more  desper 
ate  efforts  by  the  paper  to  retain  it,  were  among  the  not 
unamusing  incidents  of  the  administrations  of  the  period. 

It  was  finally  agreed  that  for  the  caucus  campaign  the 
paper  was  to  have  $1,800,  but  was  to  pay  Martin  W. 
Odland,  a  young  writer  friendly  to  the  league,  $20  a 
week  to  go  about  the  county  and  write  up  the  towns  and 
villages.  Every  family  in  the  county  was  put  on  the 
free  list  while  the  pre-caucus  campaign  was  on  and  was 
given  such  an  education  in  anti-LaFolletteism  as  the  local 
annals  of  partisanship  had  seldom  known.  However,  so 
far  as  Dane  county  was  concerned,  the  elaborate  house 
of  cards  so  solicitously  built  was  to  fall.  An  obstinate 
electorate,  charged  with  refusing  to  see  the  light,  was 
to  return  but  dust  and  ashes  for  all  this  effort.  Scarcely 
a  town  or  precinct  in  the  whole  county  was  to  go  over 
to  the  side  of  "conservatism." 

Odland,  it  may  be  here  said,  was  one  of  the  bright 
products  from  the  Norwegian  pioneer  belt  of  South  Da 
kota  who  had  been  attracted  to  Wisconsin  by  Prof.  J.  G. 
Dow,  a  Scotch  genius,  who  discovered  him  and  drew  him 
eastward  with  him.  After  a  brilliant  career  at  the  Uni 
versity  of  Wisconsin,  Odland  engaged  some  years  in 
teaching,  but  his  Norwegian  lov%  of  fighting  proved  ir 
resistible  and  he  left  the  cramping  atmosphere  of  the 
schoolroom  for  the  more  adventurous  and  stirring  one  of 
politics.  By  virtue  of  ideals,  education  and  tempera- 


300  LAFOLLETTE  *s   WINNING   or   WISCONSIN 

ment,  he  belonged  in  the  camp  of  reform,  to  which  after 
years  of  wandering  in  the  desert  he  was  ultimately  to 
return.  His  county  assignment  was  partly  accidental, 
which  suggests  another  incident.  It  was  an  unfinished 
work  which  had  been  undertaken  by  the  paper  a  year  or 
two  before  through  Fred  Sheasby,  a  beardless  sapling, 
later  a  famous  local  sport  and  political  writer.  How 
ever,  while  Sheasby  was  in  the  midst  of  his  bucolic  per 
egrinations  there  was  a  sudden  demand  for  him  at  home. 
Sheasby,  by  the  way,  had  "cut  the  cables"  with  head 
quarters,  so  the  editor  was  perplexed  as  to  how  to  reach 
the  wandering  boy.  Finally  a  happy  idea  seized  him. 
The  next  issue  of  the  paper  bore  in  conspicuous  type  on 
the  middle  of  the  front  page  this  exhortation :  ' '  Sheasby, 
Come  Home ! ' '  Advertising  brings  results,  and  Sheasby 
soon  reported  at  headquarters. 

Incidents,  dramatic,  serious,  amusing  soon  came  on 
apace.  One  of  the  most  amusing  episodes  of  the  early 
period  of  the  campaign  was  the  exchange  of  the  so-called 
Barber-Sturdevant  correspondence.  W.  E.  Barber, 
editor  of  the  LaCrosse  Chronicle,  desiring  some  data  to 
use  against  the  administration,  wrote  to  Mr.  Sturtevant 
of  the  stalwart  committee  at  Madison  asking  for  it.  Be 
cause  of  a  similarity  in  names  the  letter  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Attorney  General  L.  M.  Sturdevant,  who  could 
not  resist  the  temptation  to  have  some  sport  and  turn 
the  blunder  to  some  advantage  of  his  side.  Accordingly 
he  wrote  a  sarcastic  reply  to  the  Barber  epistle  and  then 
gave  both  letters  to  the  Milwaukee  Free  Press,  in  which 
paper  they  were  elaborately  "played  up"  on  the  front 
page. 

The  Barber  letter  follows: 

LaCrosse,  Wis.,  Jan.  7,  1904. 
Mr.   Sturdevant,  Madison,  Wis. 

Dear  Sir:  The  Chronicle  is  in  need  of  some  data  which,  it 
seems  to  me,  you  might  be  able  to  furnish  us.  We  want  to  know 
how  many  game  wardens  there  are  in  the  state,  how  many  factory 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAK  OF  1904  301 

inspectors,  how  many  oil  inspectors,  and  how  many  other  appointive 
officers  in  the  state  within  the  gift  of  the  governor;  also  the 
amount  of  money  paid  them  during  the  past  year.  We  also  want 
to  know  what  the  expense  of  running  the  state  government  has 
been  during  the  past  year.  Write  me  immediately  if  you  can 
furnish  us  this.  If  you  cannot  we  must  take  some  other  course 
to  get  it,  for  we  must  have  it.  We  are  compiling  a  nice  lot  of  cam 
paign  material  which  will  be  very  useful  to  the  republicans  when 
we  get  in  the  heat  of  the  campaign  and  this  material  which  we 
are  asking  for  will  furnish  us  with  sufficient  material  in  my  judg 
ment  to  make  LaCrosse  county  safe  and  sure  for  the  stalwarts. 
Yours  very  truly, 

W.  E.  BARBER. 

THE  EEPLY 

Madison,  Wis.,  Jan.  11,  1904. 
Editor  LaCrosse  Chronicle,  LaCrosse,  Wis. 

Your  letter  addressed  to  "Mr.  Sturdevant"  and  in  which  you 
ask  for  the  number  of  game  wardens,  oil  inspectors,  factory  in 
spectors,  and  other  appointive  officers  within  the  gift  of  the  gov 
ernor,  has  been  received.  You  say  that  you  are  compiling  ' '  a 
nice ' '  lot  of  campaign  material  ' '  and  that  it  will  furnish  you  with 
sufficient  material  to  make  LaCrosse  county  safe  and  sure  for  the 
stalwarts. "  In  reply  I  will  say  that  I  have  not  in  my  possession 
the  information  which  you  ask.  Hon.  Henry  Overbeck,  game 
warden,  will  be  able  to  give  you  the  number  of  his  deputies;  Hon. 
A.  C.  Backus,  factory  inspector,  and  Hon.  E.  E.  Mills,  supervisor 
of  inspectors  of  illuminating  oils,  will  be  able  to  give  you  the 
number  of  persons  employed  in  their  departments.  Concerning  the 
cost  of  the  state  government  I  would  refer  you  to  the  secretary 
of  state. 

I  could,  perhaps,  by  the  outlay  of  some  work,  get  this  informa 
tion  for  you,  but  as  I  am  a  republican  and  as  I  understand  from 
your  letter  that  your  "nice  lot  of  campaign  material"  is  to  be 
used  in  an  effort  to  disrupt  and  overthrow  the  republican  party 
I  would  not  wish  to  aid  in  any  way.  Mr.  D.  S.  Rose  of  Milwaukee, 
a  year  or  more  ago*,  got  together  some  campaign  material  quite 
similar  to  that  which  you  desire  and  although  not  entirely  correct, 
I  presume  it  would  answer  your  purpose  quite  as  well  as  it  did 
that  of  Mr.  Rose.  I  understand  that  by  making  LaCrosse  county 
sure  for  the  stalwarts  you  mean  that  your  county  will  send  to  the 
legislature  assemblymen  and  a  senator  who  can  be  relied  upon  to 
repudiate  the  pledges  of  the  party  and  to  serve  the  corporations. 
If  my  understanding  is  correct  then  in  my  opinion  your  cause  is 


302  LAFOLLETTE  's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

a  most  unworthy  one  and  ought  to  meet  with  inglorious  defeat. 
I  have  given  your  letter  to  the  Milwaukee  Free  Press  for  publica 
tion  so  that  the  people  of  Wisconsin  may  know  what  are  the  real 
purposes  of  your  "  harmony7'  campaign. 

Yours  truly, 

L.  M.  STURDEVANT. 

The  publication  of  these  letters  led  to  great  and  im 
potent  gnashing  of  teeth  on  one  side  and  expansive  and 
unrestrained  mirth  on  the  other.  There  were  sharp 
threats  of  prosecution  of  the  attorney  general  under  the 
postal  laws  on  the  charge  of  tampering  with  mail  not 
addressed  to  him,  but  Mr.  Sturdevant  pointed  out  that 
while  the  letter  and  envelope  had  been  originally  ad 
dressed  to  "Mr.  Sturtevant,"  yet  they  had  been  cor 
rected  to  read  Mr.  '  *  Sturdevant ' '  and  tantalizingly  asked 
"how  was  one  to  know  for  whom  it  was  intended?" 
Anyway,  if  one's  purposes  and  motives  were  honorable, 
he  asked,  why  should  one  be  ashamed  of  them  or  resent 
their  exposure  to  the  light  of  day  ?  It  was  apparent  that 
the  best  way  out  of  the  embarrassment  brought  on  by  a 
blundering  postal  underling  was  to  forget  it,  and  the  in 
cident  passed  into  the  accumulating  store  charged  to  ex 
perience.  But  while  knowledge  came  through  such  mis 
haps  wisdom  yet  lingered. 

One  of  the  first  ends  sought  by  the  stalwart  committee 
was  to  capture  the  student  republican  machinery  of  the 
university.  LaFollette  had  always  exercised  a  peculiar 
fascination  over  the  mass  of  the  young  men  of  that  in 
stitution  and  much  of  his  political  success  had  been  due 
to  the  fact  that  he  had  been  able  to  enlist  under  his  ban 
ner  an  ever-increasing  host  of  brilliant,  brainy  and  en 
thusiastic  youth,  the  leavening  of  whose  influence  had 
penetrated  to  the  remotest  corner  of  the  state.  If  the 
student  body  could  be  made  to  give  the  appearance  of  re- 
.  pudiating  or  expressing  a  lack  of  confidence  in  the  ad 
ministration  the  moral  effect,  it  was  believed,  would  be 
far-reaching.  It  would  be  presumed  by  many  honest 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAK  OF  1904  303 

voters  elsewhere  that  the  university  students,  represent 
ing  the  highest  thought  of  the  state,  and,  furthermore, 
being  at  the  seat  of  government,  would  be  safe  guides  to 
follow  in  voting.  Accordingly  it  was  announced  that 
the  university  republican  club  would  be  reorganized  and 
an  election  of  officers  held  on  January  9.  Both  factions 
then  set  to  work  industriously  and  each  brought  out  a 
prominent  football  man  as  a  candidate.  The  organiza 
tion  of  the  administration  forces  was  carried  out  mainly 
by  John  M.  Nelson,  later  congressman,  at  whose  house 
a  number  of  meetings  were  held,  and  by  M.  B.  Olbrich. 
H.  H.  Morgan  and  A.  A.  Meggett,  a  federal  employe, 
undertook  to  proselyte  the  field  for  the  stalwarts.  The 
university  was  flooded  with  Roosevelt-Baensch  circulars 
and  much  made  of  the  fact  that  Judge  Baensch  was  a 
distinguished  alumnus  of  the  university  and  entitled  to 
the  support  of  the  students.  As  the  day  of  election  ap 
proached  the  excitement  became  something  intense.  Some 
of  the  classes  were  demoralized  and  the  rivalry  was 
nearly  as  strained  as  among  the  time-servers  of  the  two 
camps  down  town.  The  result  of  the  contest  was  the 
election  of  the  LaFollette  candidate  by  a  vote  of  585  to 
326. 

The  year  1904  was  destined  to  be  replete  with  sensa 
tions',  political  and  otherwise.  On  the  morning  of  Febru 
ary  27  the  citizens  of  Madison  awoke  to  find  the  state 
capitol  on  fire.  The  flames  broke  out  in  the  north  wing 
at  3  o'clock  and  by  daylight  had  spread  to  the  east  and 
west  wings,  threatening  the  destruction  of  the  entire 
building.  The  local  fire  department  worked  to  stem  the 
progress  of  the  flames  until  nearly  noon  when  help  ar 
rived  from  Milwaukee,  though  too  late  to  be  of  much 
value.  The  east  and  west  wings  were  almost  totally  de 
stroyed  and  portions  of  the  north  and  south  wings 
gutted.  During  the  progress  of  the  fire  Governor  La 
Follette  himself  performed  daring  service.  Donning  a 


304  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING  OF   WISCONSIN 

rubber  coat  and  cap,  he  dashed  in  and  out  of  the  blazing, 
flooded  corridors,  directing  the  rescue  of  records  and 
books,  and  taking  a  hand  wherever  he  could  in  fighting 
the  progress  of  the  flames.  Among  the  treasures  de 
stroyed  were  the  relics  in  the  war  museum,  including 
many  pictures  and  mementoes,  and  the  body  of  Old  Abe, 
the  famous  war  eagle. 

The  origin  of  the  fire  was  never  ascertained.  It  is  be 
lieved  that  the  ceiling  in  one  of  the  rooms  on  the  second 
floor  caught  fire  from  a  gas  jet  underneath.  At  any 
rate  it  was  discovered  here  by  Nat  Crampton,  night 
watchman,  and  reported  by  him. 

It  was  generally  felt  that  the  destruction  of  the  capitol 
would  put  a  new  phase  on  the  political  situation.  Prac 
tically  the  entire  state  press  assumed  that  a  special  ses 
sion  of  the  legislature  would  be  called  at  once  to  make 
appropriations  for  the  immediate  rebuilding  of  the  state- 
house.  In  the  first  shock  of  the  disaster  partisanship  was 
sunk  in  state  patriotism  and  the  opposition  press  actually 
gave  the  governor  a  little  credit  for  his  brave  attempt 
to  save  the  building.  But  that  shock  over,  they  turned 
to  see  what  political  advantage  could  be  reaped  from  it ; 
to  what  extent  it  could  be  made  to  embarrass  the  admin 
istration.  The  extra  session  they  figured  might  be  fruit 
ful  in  disclosures,  were  an  investigation  made;  it  might 
result  in  a  reprimand  of  the  administration,  in  upheav 
als  ;  possibly  the  exigencies  might  be  made  to  overshadow 
the  LaFollette  issues  and  make  them  fall  flat  before  the 
people,  making  easy  the  defeat  of  the  governor  for  re- 
nomination.  Much  was  made  of  the  fact  that  the  insur 
ance  on  the  building  had  been  allowed  to  lapse  by  Gov 
ernor  LaFollette.  LaFollette 's  predecessor,  Governor 
Scofield,  at  the  solicitation  of  ' '  Dick ' '  Main,  of  prominent 
stalwart  connections,  had  placed  a  heavy  insurance  on  the 
building,  but  LaFollette 's  view  was  that  the  state  should 
be  able  to  protect  itself  and  had  allowed  the  policy  to 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904  305 

lapse  after  the  legislature  of  1903  had  enacted  a  law 
providing  for  state  insurance  of  public  buildings. 

Then  there  were  other  problems.  Taking  advantage 
of  Madison's  plight,  the  press  of  other  cities  began  dis 
cussing  the  advisability  of  attempting  the  removal  of  the 
capital  from  Madison.  It  was  felt  that  Milwaukee  might 
now  make  a  successful  bid  for  it.  Plainly  fate  had  un 
expectedly  come  to  the  aid  of.  the  opposition  by  piling 
new  embarrassments  and  troubles  upon  the  governor. 

Considering  all  these  things,  LaFollette  quickly  de 
termined  on  his  line  of  action.  He  saw  three  things : 
first,  that  an  extra  session  would  be  a  great  expense; 
second,  that  it  might  encourage  Milwaukee  to  make  re 
newed  efforts,  perhaps  successfully,  to  become  the  cap 
ital;  and  third,  that  it  might  result  in  some  unfavorable 
reflection  on,  if  not  hostile  action  toward,  the  administra 
tion  from  the  legislature.  Political  wisdom,  at  least, 
suggested  that  the  plan  to  pursue  was  to  minify  the  inci 
dent.  To  forestall  any  move  by  Milwaukee,  therefore, 
and  to  disarm  his  enemies,  LaFollette  resolved  to  avoid 
a  special  session,  and  to  act  under  the  authority  vested  in 
him  and  repair  the  building.  However,  the  responsi 
bility  for  the  fire  was  laid  up  to  LaFollette  by  his 
enemies,  and  to  meet  the  criticism  the  state  central  com 
mittee  convened  and  issued  a  solemn  statement  that  no 
blame  could  attach  to  the  governor  for  the  destruction  of 
the  building. 

Apropos  of  this  action  Wardon  Curtis,  a  Madison 
author  and  wit,  hit  off  the  following  imaginary  conversa 
tion: 

Well,  I  can't  help  thinkin'  Bob  Layfollett  done  a  bad  thing 
when  he  burned  the  capitol  down.  He  might  have  thought  it 
would  hurt  the  stalwarts,  but  I  don't  believe  the  people  of  the 
state  will  see  it  that  way. 

Burn  it  down!  Great  Scott,  man,  what  would  the  governor 
burn  the  capitol  down  for? 


306  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING  OF   WISCONSIN 

What  for?  You  tell  me.  I've  been  trying  to  figure  it  out  for 
some  time  and  can't  make  out  whyjie  done  it.  No,  sir!  what  did 
he  burn  the  capitol  down  for? 

*  »     * 

The  way  the  delay  occurred  was  this  way.  Crampton  seen  the 
fire  and  he  started  on  a  run  to  alarm  the  proper  officials  and  he 
fell  over  one  of  the  game  wardens — 

Game  wardens  in  the  capitol,  what  for? 

Well,  this  one  was  the  game  warden  that  takes  care  of  the 
squirrels  in  the  capitol  park.  Crampton  picks  himself  up  and 
starts  to  running  again  and  falls  over  another  game  warden — 

Game  warden?  Another  game  warden?  I  can  understand  the 
game  warden  for  the  squirrels,  but  what  was  this  one  for?  What 
other  game  could  there  be  around  the  capitol? 

If  you  ever  seen  any  of  them  fifty-dollar  jackpots  you  wouldn't 
ask.  Well,  Crampton  he  picks  himself  up  a  second  time  and  starts 
a-running  and  falls  over  another  game  warden — 

Third  game  warden?     What  would  a  third  game  warden  be  for? 

Governor's  game. 

Governor's  game? 

Yep,  governor's  game. 

What  on  earth  is  the  governor's  game? 

Slicker  fellers  than  you  an'  me  is  trying  to  find  that  out.  Best 
heads  in  both  factions  is  calculating  on  that.  What  is  the  gov 
ernor's  game?  Does  he  want  to  be  governor  again?  Does  he 
want  Quarles'  place?  Will  he  throw  up  the  governorship  if  he 
gets  it,  or  serve  his  term  and  run  for  the  senate  afterward?  What 
is  the  governor's  game?  I'd  like  mighty  well  to  know. 

*  *     » 

I  notice  that  in  spite  of  the  many  signs  to  the  effect  that  there 
is  danger  in  certain  parts  of  the  capitol,  posted  up  on  trees,  that 
the  governor  and  his  friends  walk  right  through  as  unconcernedly 
as  can  be.  I  tell  you  the  governor  is  a  man  of  nerve, — and  his 
friends  have  their  share  of  nerve,  too. 

That  ain't  no  lie  under  certain  conditions.  But  don't  you  fool 
yourself  about  the  governor  being  in  danger  walking  around  there 
in  the  capitol.  He  ain't  in  danger,  and  his  friends  ain't  neither. 
But  some  folks  would  be  in  danger  there  all  right  enough. 

How  do  you  make  that  out? 

Everyone  of  them  chaps  working  in  there  has  orders  if  he  sees 
a  stalwart  in  the  parts  marked  "  dangerous "  to  drop  a  brick  on 
his  head. 

Come  off!     Yon  don't  believe  that.     How  do  you  know  that? 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904 


307 


Political  Cartoon,  Suppressed  bv  State  Journal,  1904 


308  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF  WISCONSIN 

Know  it?  Don't  it  stand  to  reason?  You  bet,  I  know  it.  If 
Boss  Keyes  should  walk  in  there  the  whole  end  wall  would  fall  in. 

The  charge  by  the  Milwaukee  Daily  News  that  Assist 
ant  Attorney  General  L.  H.  Bancroft  was  the  holder  of 
a  railroad  pass  was  one  of  the  many  sensations  of  the 
time.  Because  of  LaFollette's  strong  anti-pass  declara 
tions,  this  revelation  in  connection  with  one  of  his  offi 
cial  family,  so  to  speak,  was  made  much  of  by  the  opposi 
tion.  Later  a  similar  charge  was  made  against  other 
officials  in  the  attorney  general's  office.  Bancroft  finally 
offered  the  defense  that  he  was  entitled  to  such  pass  as 
the  local  attorney  of  a  railroad,  but  eventually  he  with 
drew  from  the  attorney  general's  force. 

In  the  furious  pre-caucus  campaign,  bulldozing  of  the 

press  was  a  recourse  of  the  stalwart  bosses.     The  writer, 

among  others,  was  visited  and  informed  that  opposition 

\  leaders  had  sufficient  influence  with  his  newspapers  and 

Vpress  associations  to  bring  about  his  removal  as  corre- 

y  vspondent  if  he  persisted  in  the  kind  of  stories  he  was 

Writing.     This  bulldozing  practice  was  exposed  by  the 

madison  Democrat  in  a  savage  editorial  in  the  course  of 

the  campaign,  the  Democrat,  by  the  way,  being  then 

friendly  to  LaFollette. 

On  April  14  the  Democrat  had  carried  a  startling 
story  reading  in  part :  "  '  Come  In  To  Madison.  Your 
Time  Goes  On.  Report  to  Me — Eldridge.'  This  is  the 
message  that  flashed  over  the  wires  of  the  Milwaukee 
lines.  It  is  the  order  which  Superintendent  Eldridge  sent 
to  all  the  men  working  under  him  who  could  be  spared, 
telling  them  to  come  to  Madison  and  there  report  to  him. 
Mr.  Eldridge  made  plain  the  purpose  of  his  visit.  He 
told  the  men  that  *  Governor  LaFollette  had  to  be  beaten ; 
that  every  one  of  them  had  to  get  out  and  work  and  carry 
the  caucuses  of  the  city  of  Madison  against  him';  that 
'unless  they  did  so  they  could  sever  their  connection  with 
the  railroad,  etc/  " 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904  309 

Chairman  Spooner  of  the  Baensch  committee  imme 
diately  sent  the  Democrat  a  letter  expressing  his  "utter 
disgust"  at  the  printing  of  such  a  story  and  promised 
that  "the  next  legislature  will  be  asked  to  investigate 
the  state  printing, ' '  and  that  the  next  secretary  of  state 
also  would  be  asked  to  so  interpret  the  printing  contracts 
as  to  "restore  the  independence  of  the  Democrat." 

Under  the  caption  "Chairman  Spooner 's  Puerile 
Threat,"  the  Democrat  the  following  morning  made  a 
savage  editorial  reply  to  this  letter,  saying  in  part : 

"The  letter  of  Chairman  Spooner  to  this  paper  is 
pretty  conclusive  proof  that  so  far  as  his  part  in  the  con 
test  extends,  it  is  devoid  of  worthy  principle  surely." 

Not  since  the  roster  scandal  of  a  decade  before  had  this 
somewhat  proper  sheet  been  so  exercised. 

The  administration,  by  the  way,  was  quick  to  seize 
upon  the  Democrat's  railroad  story  for  political  advan 
tage.  On  April  18,  the  day  of  the  Dane  county  repub 
lican  caucuses,  naming  circulars  were  issued  carrying  a 
reprint  of  it,  also  setting  forth  that  Madison  owed  noth 
ing  to  the  railroads;  that  the  St.  Paul  depots  were  in 
sults  to  the  public,  and  that  the  Northwestern  road, 
which  had  reaped  a  great  harvest  in  Madison,  had  re 
fused  to  place  flagmen  at  dangerous  crossings,  until  com 
pelled  to  do  so  by  city  ordinances,  etc.  The  railroad 
employes  were  exhorted  to  be  independent.  The  cir 
culars  concluded : 

It  is  right  for  the  employe  to  take  orders  from  his  employer 
respecting  his  work.  It  is  wrong  for  him  to  take  orders  from  his 
employer  respecting  his  ballot.  Submit  once  and  your  spirit  of 
American  independence  is  broken.  Your  own  self-respect  is  gone. 
The  most  precious  right  of  American  citizenship  is  manhood  suf 
frage.  Do  not  surrender  that  right  to  any  power  on  earth. 

Caucuses  Tonight  from  5  to  8  o 'Clock. 
»     #     * 

Besides  the  renomination  of  LaFollette  the  scheme  of 
the  administration  included  the  ambitious  undertaking 
of  the  defeat  of  Congressman  J.  W.  Babcock  of  the  third 


310  LAFOLLETTE 'S    WlXXIXG     OF     WlSCONSIX 

congressional  district.  Although  he  had  assisted  in 
bringing  about  the  nomination  of  LaFollette  in  1900, 
Babcock  had  quickly  abandoned  the  governor  when  the 
latter  was  found  unamenable  to  machine  control  and  had 
been  the  most  effective  of  the  stalwart  leaders  in  defeat 
ing  the  reform  measures  of  the  administration.  In  both 
of  the  legislative  sessions  of  1901  and  1903  he  had  come 
from  Washington  to  Madison  to  direct  the  fight  on  the 
governor's  bills.  With  Henry  Casson  of  Madison,  J.  L. 
Sturtevant  of  Waupaca,  and  others,  he  had  also  been 
active  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1903  organizing  the 
fight  to  be  made  on  LaFollette  the  following  year,  and 
had  thus  invited  the  fire  of  the  administration's  bat 
teries. 

The  plan  of  the  adminstration  was  to  bring  out  a 
"favorite  son"  to  contest  with  Babcock  for  the  delega 
tion  in  each  of  the  counties  in  his  district,  and  then  to 
unite  this  opposition  at  the  convention.  A  handbook 
similar  to  the  "Voters'  Handbook"  of  1902,  exposing 
Babcock  as  a  corporation  servitor,  was  also  issued.  Among 
the  many  charges  brought  against  the  congressman  in  the 
handbook  was  that  of  having  loaded  the  mails  with 
franked  material  during  the  weighing  season  in  order 
to  give  the  railroads  a  heavy  average  on  which  to  let 
mail  contracts. 

Twenty  tons  of  literature,  it  was  charged,  had  been 
franked  to  the  Baraboo  district,  making  an  increase  of 
$96,000  to  the  Northwestern  road  alone  over  its  previous 
receipts.  Even  the  affidavit  of  a  Baraboo  drayman  to 
the  effect  that  he  had  broken  down  his  dray  in  attempt 
ing  to  haul  away  three  tons  of  the  stuff  was  secured. 
Said  one  administration  supporter  afterwards : 

One  carload  of  reports  of  the  centennial  exposition  held  in 
Philadelphia  in  1876  was  sent  to  Baraboo,  besides  quantities  of 
other  matter.  This  material  was  piled  up  in  the  postoffice,  the 
city  library,  in  the  high  school,  in  cellars,  hallways,  behind  doors, 
everywhere.  Editors  on  coming  to  work  would  find  great  stacks  of 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904  311 

books  and  papers  on  their  desks.  Much  of  it  was  actually  later 
burned  in  the  streets.  It  was  the  same  story  at  Platteville.  This 
town  was  also  flooded  with  literature  and  an  overflow  supply  of 
five  big  wagonloads  was  taken  to  an  empty  house  in  the  country. 
All  these  things  were  attested  to  under  oath  by  reputable  citizens 
of  these  places. 

Babcock  won  the  nomination,  however,  by  the  very  ( 
tactics  LaFollete  had  so  often  successfully  employed,  \ 
rushing  the  fight.  January  28  a  call  was  issued  for  the 
holding  of  the  congressional  convention  in  Baraboo 
March  3.  Although  the  opposition  protested  that  in  the 
whole  history  of  the  party,  with  a  single  exception,  such 
convention  had  not  been  held  earlier  than  August  the 
Babcock  managers  persisted  in  their  plan  of  ''winter 
caucuses."  The  result  was  that  the  "favorite  sons" 
were  unable  to  effect  organizations  in  time  and  Babcock 
was  renominated.  The  opposition  thus  aroused,  how 
ever,  brought  about  the  congressman 's  defeat  in  the  elec 
tion  two  years  later. 

*    *    # 

A  significant  political  straw  pointing  the  tendency 
of  public  sentiment  was  seen  in  the  election  that  spring 
of  a  member  of  the  supreme  court.  A  vacancy  had  been 
created  by  death  and  the  stalwarts  hastened  to  bring 
out  a  candidate  in  the  person  of  L.  K.  Luse  of  Superior. 
A  little  later  on  the  administration  side  brought  forward 
Judge  J.  C.  Kerwin  of  Neenah.  This  latter  action  the 
stalwart  press  denounced  as  a  deliberate  attempt  to  in 
ject  politics  into  a  judicial  election.  The  administration 
retorted  that  it  represented  a  majority  of  the  electors 
of  Wisconsin,  and  that  it  came  with  ill  grace  in  a  minor 
ity  faction  to  deny  the  right  or  question  the  motives  of 
the  other  side  in  presenting  a  candidate  of  its  own  and 
one  presumably  in  sympathy  with  its  temper.  Although 
the  practice  had  been  generally  frowned  upon  by  the 
public,  partisan  racing  for  the  supreme  bench  was  not 
unknown  in  the  state,  and  it  was  not  long  before  this 


312  LAFOLLETTE  JS    WINNING     OF    WISCONSIN 

contest  developed  into  a  sharp  factional  fight.  The  ad 
ministration  press  boldly  took  the  position  that  no  man 
ought  to  be  supported  for  the  place  unless  there  was 
reasonable  assurance  that  his  decisions  on  the  bench 
would  be  in  line  with  the  public  sentiment  expressed  in 
the  legislation  and  policies  of  the  administration,  and 
attacked  Luse  as  ' '  unsafe, ' '  citing,  whether  justly  or  not, 
but  certainly  to  his  disadvantage,  his  past  connections 
with  corporation  litigation  and  his  professional  associa 
tion  with  Senator  Spooner.  The  stalwart  press,  in  the 
main,  confined  itself  to  presenting  the  high  abilities  and 
attainments  of  Luse  and  his  fitness  for  the  position. 

On  the  face  of  the  returns  the  morning  after  election 
the  indications  were  that  Luse  had  been  elected  by  a  ma 
jority  running  into  the  thousands.  But  these  returns 
came  principally  from  the  cities.  When  later  the  coun 
try  vote  came  in  it  was  another  story.  One  after  another 
the  strictly  rural  counties  returned  heavily  for  Kerwin 
and  when  after  several  days  all  the  "backwoods"  and 
isolated  precincts  had  reported,  it  was  found  that  Ker 
win  led  his  competitor  by  some  15,000  votes.  The  result 
was  regarded  as  a  significant  expression  of  the  temper  of 
the  plain  people  on  the  issues  pending  and  gave  new 

heart  to  the  administration. 

*    *    * 

During  all  the  uproar  following  these  developments 
Governor  LaFollette  had  made  no  public  statement  that 
he  would  be  a  candidate  for  a  third  term  as  governor. 
Divining  that  sooner  or  later  such  announcement  would 
be  made,  the  opposition  press  ironically  asked  in  ad 
vance  who  was  calling  the  governor  to  stand  again  any 
way.  This  was  taken  by  his  friends  as  a  challenge  and 
accordingly  the  following  call  appeared  in  the  Mt.  Horeb 
Times  : 

The  enemies  of  Governor  LaFollette,  with  a  great  show  of  noise, 
declare  that  he  cannot  logically  be  a  candidate  for  a  third  term 
unless  he  gets  a  call  from  the  people,  which  they  assert  he  has  not 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904  513 

yet  received.  If  the  formality  of  a  call  is  to  be  carried  out  the 
Times  hastens  to  speak  out.  Kepresenting  his  cradled  home,  where 
he  is  best  known  and  honored,  this  paper  deems  it  fitting,  and 
feels  a  just  pride  therein,  that  it  should  be  the  first  to  extend  a 
formal  call  to  him  to  again  be  a  candidate. 

Governor  LaFollette,  we  ask  you  to  again  accept  the  position 
whose  trust  you  have  discharged  with  such  fidelity  to  the  people 
and  such  honor  to  the  state.  The  good  work  begun  in  your  in 
spiration  must  be  finished,  and  to  you  do  the  people  look  for  its 
consummation.  The  reforms  that  you  have  proposed  have  been 
twice  overwhelmingly  indorsed  at  the  polls  and  the  people  will 
not  be  satisfied  until  they  are  written  upon  our  statute  books. 
And  whom  do  they  want  to  apply  and  execute  them  but  their  own 
intrepid  champion? 

We  are  proud  of  the  fact  that  in  you  the  young  generation  can 
find  an  inspiration.  You  are  a  worthy  representative  of  the  culture 
of  our  great  state.  But  though  proud  of  your  brilliant  gifts  and 
attainments,  we  find  still  greater  satisfaction  in  the  reflection 
that  although  you  have  been  for  years  under  the  fiercest  light  of 
scrutiny  there  has  not  been  a  whisper  against  your  public  or 
private  life.  No  suspicion  of  jobbery  has  ever  attached  to  any 
of  your  acts,  no  charge  of  double-dealing.  On  the  contrary,  you 
have  been  conceded  a  most  splendidly  fearless  and  conscientious 
executive.  You  have  set  a  new  standard  to  public  officials  and 
in  your  past  record  we  find  our  best  hope  for  your  continuance  as 
governor. 

We  are  proud  of  the  fact  that,  although  the  forces  of  corruption 
have  temporarily  defeated  your  reforms,  a  healthier  civic  spirit 
animates  the  state  and  particularly  our  legislative  halls.  Who 
but  remembers  the  disgraceful  conditions  that  governed  at  our 
state  capital  some  years  ago,  when  lobbyists  and  jobbers  thronged 
the  corridors  and  legislative  chambers,  and  when  railroad  passes 
were  to  be  had  by  all  for  the  asking?  The  abolition  of  these  evils, 
as  well  as  others,  is  directly  due  to  influences  that  you  set  in 
motion.  Prize-fighting  has  not  stained  the  good  name  of  the  state 
since  you  first  put  an  effective  check  upon  it,  nor  have  you  outraged 
public  sentiment  by  indiscriminately  opening  prison  doors.  Abuses 
of  long  standing  in  our  state  institutions  have  all  been  corrected 
under  your  administration.  The  men  who  have  been  brought  out 
to  oppose  you  are  good  men,  but  they  stand  for  nothing  positive. 
In  ambiguous  phrase  they  mildly  indorse  your  proposed  reforms, 
but  offer  nothing  new  or  satisfactory.  Because  of  their  very 
colorless  characters  and  pliant  natures  they  are  made  the  willing 
stalking  horses  of  your  enemies  to  cloak  the  latter 's  real  purpose, 


314  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

that  of  defeating  you,  and  making  your  reforms  impossible.  Under 
the  plea  of  ' '  Party  harmony ' '  the  most  vindictive  campaign  ever 
waged  in  Wisconsin  is  now  being  carried  on  by  them  and  against 
a  most  worthy  cause  and  a  most  high-minded  and  efficient  gov 
ernor.  The  corporations  and  their  tools  of  grafters  and  lobbyists 
are  behind  them  and  were  either  of  those  men  elected  governor 
your  reforms  and  the  people 's  interests  would  be  put  by  in  mockery 
and  laughter. 

We  want  you  because  the  trusts  and  corporations  are  against 
you.  They  fear  you  because  you  refuse  to  be  their  tool.  They 
oppose  a  commission  to  fix  and  regulate  railway  rates  and  would 
escape  paying  their  share  of  the  taxes.  Their  main  hope  lies  in 
defeating  you.  The  people  should  honor  one  who  has  the  courage 
and  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  principle  to  lead  their  battles. 
Such  leaders  are  not  always  found. 

You  have  given  us  a  strong,  clean  and  economical  administration, 
but  your  good  work  is  not  over.  We  have  set  our  hand  to  the 
plow  and  must  not  turn  backward.  Therefore,  governor,  we  ask 
you  to  again  come  forth  and  lead  us  in  another  fight  for  principle. 

When  this  call  was  reprinted  in  other  papers  through 
out  the  state  the  opposition  sought  to  make  light  of  it, 
asserting  that  it  had  been  written  in  the  governor 's  office 
by  his  private  secretary.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was 
written  by  a  young  newspaper  man  of  Madison,  who 
Imih'd  i'rmn  the  s;mi<1  town  ;is  did  tin-  ^ovrrnor  tin- 
writer  of  this  work,  in  fact— and  entirely  on  his  own  re 
sponsibility.  Serving  a  stalwart  Madison  paper,  the 
Wisconsin  State  Journal,  at  the  time,  this  newspaper 
man,  by  the  way,  was  in  a  somewhat  delicate  position. 
To  remain  in  the  camp  of  the  ''enemy"  and  preserve  a 
balance  of  fairness  without  stultification  and  without 
surrendering  his  convictions  and  loyalties  was  no  easy 
task.  Added  to  this  was  the  sacrifice  of  foregoing  serv 
ice  in  the  ranks  in  which  he  longed  to  be  active,  and  the 
ever  present  consciousness  that  he  must  be  regarded  with 
some  suspicion  by  both  sides.  To  the  credit  of  the  editor, 
be  it  said,  he  stood  loyally  by  his  reporter,  even  in  the 
face  of  strong  local  protest  and  even  much  underground 
pressure  from  Washington  for  his  removal. 


THE  DECISIVE  YEAR  OF  1904  315 

* '  We  must  have  one  LaFollette  man  on  our  staff, ' '  he 
invariably  replied.  "When  we  get  rich  enough  to  stand 
alone,"  he  would  say  to  this  reporter,  "we  may  return 
to  support  LaFollette,  for  I  can't  help  feeling  that  he 
stands  for  the  right  things.  But  he  won't  counsel  with 


At  one  of  the  nightly  meetings  in  Madison  of  the  stal 
wart  leaders,  to  take  stock  of  the  day's  developments, 
the  imported  editor  asked : 

"Well,  what  is  there  to  show  for  the  good  of  the  cause 
today?" 

"Nothing  today,"  replied  a  local  lawyer;  "it  all  goes 
on  the  other  side  of  the  balance.  Two  more  counties 
went  against  us." 

"We  must  get  up  something  to  stem  the  tide,"  said 
the  I.  E.  "Judge,  you're  an  old-timer  here;  isn't  there 
anything  in  the  private  life  or  actions  of  the  governor 
we  can  attack  and  out  of  which  we  can  make  some  capital. 
This  thing  is  getting  desperate.  It  is  a  condition  and  not 
a  theory  that  confronts  us." 

"No,"  replied  the  judge  impatiently,  "we  have  looked 
for  some  such  flaw  for  nigh  on  twenty  years,  but  we 
haven't  been  able  to  find  one.  He  hasn't  even  made  a 
break  in  all  his  public  speeches  on  which  we  could  seize. 
No,  it  wouldn't  do  for  us  to  reflect  011  his  private  char 
acter.  We  must  find  something  else." 

' '  I  have  it ! "  shouted  the  lawyer,  eagerly  seizing  a 
straw  that  floated  into  his  fancy.  "  I  see  the  administra 
tion  is  making  much  of  its  collection  of  war  claims 
against  the  general  government.  It  is  seeking  to  make 
capital  out  of  the  fact  that  it  has  succeeded  in  collecting 
this  big  sum  and  added  it  to  the  state's  funds.  Let  us 
turn  this  into  a  boomerang  by  charging  misapplication 
of  moneys.  You  see  instead  of  placing  it  back  in  the 
trust  fund  from  which  it  was  borrowed  by  the  govern- 


316  LAFOLLETTE  ;S    WINNING    OF    WISCONSIN 

ment  the  administration  has  placed  it  in  the  general  fund. 
Let  us  raise  a  great  howl  over  it ;  say  a  new  scandal  has 
been  uncovered  and  that  there  is  strong  talk  of  prosecu 
tion  for  misappropriating  of  money,  misfeasance  or 
something. ' ' 

' '  I  don 't  see  how  we  can  make  it  appear  that  the  state 
is  being  robbed  by  simply  lifting  the  money  out  of  one 
drawer  and  placing  it  in  another/5  said  the  practical 
judge  dubiously. 

"We  can  make  the  transaction  appear  mysterious  and 
make  our  story  technical  and  hard  to  understand, ' '  said 
the  lawyer.  "We  ought  to  catch  a  few  by  that.  Any 
way  there's  nothing  else."  It  was  agreed  that  this  was 
to  be  tomorrow's  sensation. 

Trivial  and  seemingly  ridiculous  as  the  above  may  ap 
pear,  it  is  practically  a  faithful  reflection  of  what  ac 
tually  occurred.  The  opposition  press  for  a  time  car 
ried  long  stories  on  this  alleged  "irregularity"  of  the  ad 
ministration  and  declared  that  there  was  strong  talk  of 
prosecution. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

The  "Press  Gang." 

SOMETHING  OF  THE  PART  IT  PLAYED  IN  BIG  POLITICAL  GAME — 
"BILL"  POWELL  AND  OTHERS  DESCRIBED— W.  D.  CONNOR  ENTERS 
UPON  POLITICAL  STAGE — ELECTED  STATE  CHAIRMAN — BREAKS  WITH 
LAFOLLETTE  OVER  UNITED  STATES  SENATORSHIP. 

IT  WAS  an  afternoon  early  in  the  spring  of  1904.  By 
one  of  those  mysterious  telepathic  conjunctions  peculiar 
to  the  press  the  political  sleuths  of  all  the  Milwaukee 
newspapers  had  fluttered  into  Madison,  as  they  fre 
quently  did  in  this  exciting  period  of  war  and  rumors  of 
war.  Intuitively  they  had  divined  that  some  new  sensa 
tion  was  about  to  burst  the  bounds  of  secrecy.  The  ex 
traordinary  situation  in  Wisconsin  was  attracting  even 
national  attention  and  bringing  correspondents  from  far 
and  near,  while  the  state  press  was  constantly  reveling 
in  matter  for  exploitation.  . 

On  this  occasion  they  were  all  met  in  the  outer  office 
of  the  executive  chamber  awaiting  developments  in  the 
inner  office.  In  accordance  with  the  Homeric  practice  of 
passing  in  review  the  heroes  of  ancient  song,  a  like  serv 
ice  for  these  later  worthies  may  not  here  be  amiss,  while 
waiting_with_  them. 

What  shall  be  said  of  " Uncle  Dick"  Petherick,  one  of 
the  most  genial,  most  sarcastic,  most  irreverent,  most 
incomprehensible  geniuses  that  ever  pounded  the  cobbles 
of  newspaper  row  ?  Dick  had  as  many  fine  points  about 
him  as  a  porcupine.  He  had  come  up  from  the  ante 
diluvian  past  of  journalism,  having  from  the  days  of  his 
"devilhood"  seen  all  the  stages  of  evolution  from  the 
hand  printer  to  the  linotype,  from  the  Washington  hand 
press  to  the  mighty  revolving  Goss  of  today.  For  years 
he  had  reflected  in  the  columns  of  the  Milwaukee  dailies 


318  LAFOLLETTE 'S     WINNING    OF     WISCONSIN 

the  news,  the  foibles  and  follies  of  the  so-called  over 
grown  German  town  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan 
till  he  could  say  truthfully  of  the  time:  "All  of  it 
have  I  seen;  much  of  it  have  I  been."  He  it  was,  too, 
who  had  stood  at  the  head  of  the  stairs,  iron  bar  in  hand, 
and  held  at  bay  a  mob  of  strikers  come  to  wreck  the 
plant  of  his  employers.  He  saved  the  paper,  and  was 
soon  afterwards  rewarded,  with  a  discharge.  Then  he 
had  returned  to  his  old  Madison  home  and  received  an 
appointment  to  the  state  board  of  control,  as  a  member 
of  which  he  made  the  care  and  happiness  of  the  unfor 
tunate  children  at  the  state  school  for  dependents  his 
special  solicitude. 

Dick  was  like  rare  old  wine.  He  was  surcharged  with 
anecdotal  exuberance  and  had  the  happiest  faculty  of 
touching  the  proper  spring  in  illustration  of  the  point 
under  discussion.  And  best  of  all,  his  stories  were  true 
episodes  that  had  come  under  his  personal  observation. 

For  years  Dick  had  distilled  his  concentrated  wisdom 
and  drollery  into  a  stick  of  squibs  a  day  entitled,  "Phil 
osophy  of  the  Street,"  which  people  took  regularly  as  a 
caper  sauce  with  their  evening  meals.  It  is  difficult  to 
make  a  choice  among  these  gems,  but  here  are  a  few 
scintillating  samples : 

Two  people  may  differ  and  both  be  wrong. 

There  are  times  in  our  lives  when  we  look  for  people  to  advise    ' 
us  wrongly. 

When  a  mother  runs  the  family  the  children  seldom  disgrace  it. 

No  justice  of  the  peace  is  over  meek  enough  to  object  to  being 
called  Judge. 

Girls  who  go  husband  hunting  often  find  that  the  game  is  not 
worth  the  powder  wasted  on  the  lapel  of  the  coat. 

One  trouble  about  trying  to  make  both  ends  meet  is  that  we  are 
apt  to  bust  in  the  middle. 

Force  of  circumstances  is  the  only  perpetual  motion  that  never 
wears  out. 

Some  people  arc  so  afraid  of  lying  that  they  don't  dare  to  tell 
the  truth. 


THE  "PRESS  GANG"  319 

Lovely  woman  does  not  have  to  stoop  to  folly;  it  is  ever  ready  to 
climb  up  to  her  unless  she  gives  it  a  vigorous  push  in  the  other 
direction. 

If  a  man  is  careful  in  selecting  his  friends  it  is  of  little  moment 
what  kind  of  enemies  he  has. 


There  was  Bill  Powell  of  the, Milwaukee  Free  Press, 
the  soul  of  good  fellowship ;  against  the  rock  of  whose 
urbanity  and  imperturbability  the  waves  of  passion 
dashed  and  fretted  in  vain.  Briefly,  Bill  was  big,  bluff 
and  bully.  Never  known  to  harbor  a  resentment,  his 
composure  was  irritating  to  the  more  human  fellows  of 
the  craft,  who  were  more  or  less  swayed  by  the  passions 
of  the  hour. 

Bill's  position  wras  one  of  no  mean  responsibility.  As 
representative  of  the  official  organ  of  reform,  on  his 
untried  but  adequate  shoulders  fell  a  heavy  load.  His 
was  the  delicate  responsibility  of  speaking  by  the  card, 
of  pitching  the  keynote,  as  it  were,  for  all  the  lesser 
sheets  of  its  ilk  in  the  state.  He  alone,  with  big  John 
Hannan,  had  the  envied  privilege  of  carte  Uanche  to 
the  holy  of  holies,  the  executive  office,  and  thereby  had 
a  voice  in  determining  the  nature  and  amount  of  news 
that  was  to  go  out  from  this  prolific  sensation-generating 
center. 

The  future  historian  of  this  turbulent  period,  if  dis 
cerning,  will  ascribe  no  little  credit  for  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  "reform" — the  stalwart  press  always  quoted 
the  word, — to  the  fact  that  Bill  Powell  represented  the 
Free  Press  at  the  capital  at  this  time.  With  practically 
all  the  other  papers  represented  at  Madison  either  hostile 
or  indifferent  to  the  administration,  to  him  fell  the 
onerous  task  of  each  day  undoing  their  iniquity  of  the 
day  before,  as  he  viewed  it ;  of  completing  their  garbled 
reports,  of  unwinding  their  tangled  webs  of  prejudice 
and  misrepresentation,  and  setting  the  public  right  with 


320  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

reference  to  the  conduct  of  affairs  at  the  capitol,  from 
the  administration  point  of  view. 

He  was  the  buffer  between  the  administration  and  the 
opposition,  and  it  was  in  this  capacity  that  he  uncon 
sciously  was  to  become  a  factor  of  no  small  consequence. 
Daily  brought  face  to  face  with  the  suspicious,  the  ex 
asperated,  the  unscrupulous  representatives  of  the  oppo 
sition,  he  was  too  often  the  nearest  object  of  attack  in  the 
relentless  war  waged  on  the  governor  and  had  to  vicar 
iously  bear  the  taunts,  the  threats,  the  derision  and  the 
spleen  heaped  upon  the  administration.  But  his  equa 
nimity  was  equal  to  any  test.  Without  surrendering  an 
iota  of  his  paper's  convictions  or  stultifying  himself  in 
the  least  degree,  he  preserved  an  unruffled  port,  disarm 
ing  their  taunts  with  a  story  or  pleasantry,  meeting  their 
charges  with  a  plausible  explanation  and  when  these 
failed  appealing  to  their  honesty  and  fair  play.  By 
these  means  he  managed  to  be  on  good  terms  with  all. 
However  much' they  might  have  hated  the  governor,  how 
ever  much  scorned  and  despised  the  Free  Press,  they 
could  not  quarrel  with  its  big,  broad-based,  prosperous- 
looking  representative,  who  before  they  realized  it  had 
ingratiated  himself  into  their  favor  by  learning  their 
first  names  and  relieving  them  of  their  best  brands  of 
cigars.  In  the  genial  warmth  of  his  presence  all  acerbity 
melted  away;  men  came  to  see  how  small  it  was  to  en 
tertain  malice  and  spite,  and  unconsciously  came  to  esti 
mate  the  temper  and  aims  of  the  reform  movement  in 
kindlier  frame  of  mind.  Thus  gently  brought  to  incline 
in  the  right  direction,  here  and  there  one  occasionally 
grew  from  a  hater  to  be  a  supporter  of  the  administra 
tion. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  the  reform  movement  in  Wis 
consin  Bill  was  a  democrat  and  in  the  first  LaFollette 
campaign  actually  espoused  from  the  stump  the  cause 
of  " Bryan,  Bomrich  or  Blood."  He  was  then  living 


THE  "PRESS  GANG"  321 

innocently  in  Madison,  sang  on  Sundays  in  a  church 
choir  and  established  a  musical  tradition  associated  with 
moonlit  evenings  and  the  lakes.  Then  he  drifted  to  Mil 
waukee,  became  annexed  to  the  Free  Press  and  rose  to  the 
enviable  position  of  political  writer.  He  thus  became 
a  person  of  consequence,  so  much  so  that  it  became  signi 
ficant  to  take  lunch  with  him.  As  remarked,  nothing 
could  ruffle  his  even  tenor.  Even  when  Dave  Rose  threw 
him  off  his  special  train  in  the  wilds  near  Oshkosh  be 
cause  Powell  was  writing  real  news,  making  it  necessary 
for  him  (Bill)  to  "hit  the  ties"  back  to  civilization — 
imagine  the  spectacle,  as  one  of  his  fellows  said — the 
benevolent  despot  who  ruled  Milwaukee  did  not  get  the 
flaying  another  would  have  given  him,  for  as  gaily  as  he 
met  the  duns  for  his  board  bills  at  the  Avenue  hotel, 
Powell  went  serenely  on  his  way  while  all  the  world 
wondered,  and  journalistic  dignity  received  a  crowning 
vindication. 

Then  there  was  Gil  Vandercook,  by  cdmmon  consent 
dubbed  the  dean  of  the  fourth  estate,  not  by  virtue  of 
length  of  service,  but  in  deference  to  a  certain  semi- 
serious  lordly  bearing,  and  air  distingue,  and  because 
representing  the  haughty  old  Mihvaukee  Sentinel,  the 
organ  of  the  opposition,  hence  of  the  political  aristocracy 
of  the  state.  A  man  of  the  world,  courtly,  suave,  with 
a  felicity  for  ingenious  and  attenuated  expression,  he  was 
courted  by  all  and  generally  respected.  Gil's  high  art. 
for  which  he  cannot  be  given  too  much  credit,  lay  in 
giving  a  maximum  of  news  with  a  minimum  of  prejudi 
cial  flavor.  In  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  his  paper, 
he  yet  had  too  fine  a  sense  of  newspaper  ethics  to  unduly 
distort  or  tell  untruth.  It  must  have  occasionally  roused 
the  gorge  of  the  less  sensitive  owners  of  his  paper  that 
he  often  told  the  honest  truth  when  misrepresentation 
would  have  been  more  to  their  liking  and  served  the  pur 
pose  better.  As  Bill  Powell  was  the  keeper  of  the  great 

21 


322  LAFOLLETTE 'S    WINNING    OP    WISCONSIN 

seal  of  the  administration,  so  Gil  was  the  official  spokes 
man  of  "the  interests. "  That  he  enjoyed  a  degree  of 
confidence  not  often  given  newspapermen  was  a  high 
tribute  to  his  judgment,  his  perspicacity  and  his  profes 
sional  honesty.  His  plaint  that  he  had  more  stories  that 
he  was  not  allowed  to  write  than  he  was  permitted  to 
exploit  was  generally  accepted  as  a  fact.  He  was  a 
party  to  many  a  secret  conference  and  deal,  and  more,  he 
was  an  adviser,  whose  judgment,  however,  was  too  often 
disregarded  by  the  stubborn  and  less  astute  big  ones  of 
his  faction  who  persisted  in  blindly  leading  the  blind. 
Kindly,  honest,  outspoken,  Gil  even  enjoyed  to  an  extent 
the  confidence  of  LaFollette,  whom  he  always  respected 
and  to  whom  he  became  more  and  more  attached  with 
time. 

Grassie  of  the  Evening  Wisconsin  was  there  to  get  his 
first  whirl  at  state  politics.  A  small  body  surmounted 
by  a  hooked  nose,  bearing  a  great  pair  of  glasses,  and  a 
shining  expanse  of  baldness,  he  was  a  figure  not  soon  to 
be  forgotten.  Like  Powell,  Grassie  was  a  minister  7s  son, 
yet  it  were  hardly  fair  to  thus  lightly  condemn  him  with 
out  qualification.  He  must  of  necessity  have  possessed 
elements  of  worth  or  his  would  not  have  been  the  im 
portant  Madison  commission  for  his  sheet.  In  the  easy 
and  familiar  parlance  of  the  craft,  Grassie  was  styled 
"an  impulsive  cuss."  It  is  said  that  in  his  locust-and 
wild-honey  days,  soon  after  leaving  college,  George  was 
wandering  aimlessly  about  the  streets  of  Superior 
pondering  the  design  of  the  Creator  in  placing  him 
(Grassie)  into  the  scheme  of  things,  when  he  suddenly 
saw  a  great  light  and  jumping  on  board  a  train  went 
direct,  and  penniless,  to  Milwaukee,  and  to  the  office  of 
the  Evening  Wisconsin,  and  demanded  a  job.  The  inci 
dent  was  typical  of  Grassie  and  his  methods.  With  a 
' '  come-on-boys "  air  of  familiarity  he  took  and  main 
tained  a  position  in  the  confidences  of  the  men  who  made 


THE  "PRESS  GANG"  323 

the  news  and  by  conducting  a  free  lance  "dope"  column 
he  added  spice  to  his  somewhat  sedate  and  correct  sheet. 
Grassie  was  true  to  the  type  of  newspaperman  so  happily 
described  by  the  poet : 

Enslaved,  improvident,  elate, 

He  greets  the  embarrassed  gods,  nor  fears 
To  grasp  the  iron  hand  of  fate, 
Or  match  with  destiny  for  beers. 

When  Grassie  got  on  the  trail  of  a  sensation  it  mat 
tered  not  that  entreating  angels  sought  to  stay  him  and 
declared  they  dared  not  follow, — down  he  would  run  it, 
whatever  the  consequences.  In  his  early  reportorial  days 
he  became  inoculated  with  the  virus  of  the  "eleventh 
story  league"  and  was  never  quite  able  to  get  the  taint 
out  of  his  political  system.  Later  he  became  a  member 
of  the  legislature  and  passed  into  oblivion. 

No  review  of  the  worthies  of  the  ' '  press  gang ' '  of  the 
time  would  be  complete  without  a  notice  of  big  John 
Hannan,  chief  factotum  of  the  governor's  office-  When 
Jerre  C.  Murphy  dropped  out  as  private  secretary  in 
LaFollette's  second  term,  and  went  out  to  fight  the 
copper  dragons  of  Montana  John  had  come  in  as  his 
successor.  It  was  like  taking  an  important  command 
in  the  midst  of  battle,  but  being  born  to  battle  John  was 
happy.  He  had  already  been  through  some  fire.  Both 
as  newspaperman  and  as  practical  politician  and  orator, 
he  had  taken  an  active  hand  in  various  contests  with  the 
public  service  corporations  in  Milwaukee. 

As  private  secretary  John  appreciated  his  responsibil 
ities.  He  watched  his  chief  as  he  would  a  child,  not  only 
shielding  the  latter 's  health,  but  applying  the  rod  of 
outspoken  opinion  when  necessary.  Nor  did  he  make 
many  mistakes  of  diplomacy.  He  seldom  burst  with  a 
mighty  secret  at  the  wrong  time,  although  his  pockets 
were  literally  stuffed  with  state-shaking  potentialities. 
It  was  said  that  John  could  answer  any  question  off-hand 
except  the  color  of  the  desk  underneath  his  papers. 


324  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING  OF   WISCONSIN 

It  used  to  be  said  in  later  years  at  Washington  that 
while  certain  states  were  practically  unrepresented  in 
the  United  States  senate,  Wisconsin  was  fortunate  in 
having  three  senators,  LaFollette,  Uncle  Ike  Stephenson, 
and  John  Hannan.  "Yes,"  added  a  New  York  visitor 
on  one  such  occasion,  "and  John  is  worth  more  than  a 
half  dozen  up  there  I  might  name. ' ' 

An  American  writer  of  discernment  has  said  that  it 
is  a  far  easier  job  to  be  president  of  the  United  States 
than  to  be  the  city  editor  of  a  metropolitan  daily;  that 
the  latter  responsibility  calls  for  more  decision,  execu 
tive  ability,  nervous  reserve  and  actual  physical  and 
mental  strength  than  the  former. 

As  such  city  editor  in  his  day  John  demonstrated  his 
capacity  to  fill  a  presidential  job  if  necessary.  It  is  re 
lated  of  him  that  one  of  his  reporters  came  dashing  in 
one  night  with  a.  fine  story.  But  unfortunately  he  was 
not  certain  of  his  facts  and  hesitated  in  his  conscientious 
ness.  "To  blank  with  the  facts,"  said  the  decisive  John, 
"write  the  story." 

But  John  appreciated  the  value  of  facts  and  knew  how 
to  turn  them  to  powerful  account.  When  in  1900  Charles 
Pfister  brought  suit  for  libel  against  the  Milwaukee 
Sentinel,  and  it  was  up  to  that  sheet  to  defend  itself, 
John  Hannan,  as  one  of  his  fellows  said,  "jumped  into 
his  fighting  clothes  and  dug  up  so  much  stuff  on  Pfister 
that  the  latter  concluded  the  wise  thing  to  do  would  be 
to  buy  the  Sentinel,  his  own  libel  suit  and  all."  Like 
wise  it  was  John,  who  a  year  later,  while  on  the  new 
Free  Press,  went  down  into  Grant  and  Lafayette  coun 
ties  and  in  two  days — he  couldn't  stay  longer  for  want 
of  money, — so  completely  exposed  the  stalwart  practices 
of  buying  up  state  papers  as  to  put  a  final  crimp  in  the 
activities  of  the  Eleventh  Floor  League.  These  were 
among  the  things  John  did — he  did  them  with  his  little 
facts. 


THE  "PRESS  GANG"  325 

LaFollette's  reputation  does  not  rest  on  a  disinclina 
tion  to  put  himself  forward  or  to  face  a  row.  For  in 
stance,  once  when  he  rose  to  address  the  senate  President 
Pro  Tern  Frye  seemed  to  wish  to  ignore  him  and  rush 
through  a  vote.  LaFollette  called,  "Mr.  President!" 
No  recognition.  Again  Mr.  LaFollette  called  out,  this 
time  somewhat  louder.  Still  there  was  no  recognition 
and  the  vote  was  about  to  be  put.  At  this  LaFollette 
pulled  out  his  stopper  to  its  full  length,  as  he  said,  and 
in  a  voice  seemingly  loud  enough  to  crack  the  glass  in  the 
ceiling,  called  out:  "Mr.  President!"  The  presiding 
officer  jumped  in  startled  amazement  and  turned,  but 
was  so  embarrassed  he  couldn't  place  the  Wisconsin 
statesman,  whereupon  the  latter  introduced  himself  as 
"the  senator  from  Wisconsin"  and  proceeded  to  speak. 

But  even  LaFollette  would  occasionally  lapse  in  bat 
tle;  not  so  with  John.  He  believed  in  fighting  three 
hundred  sixty-five  days  a  year  and  as  many  more  as  leap 
year  permitted.  With  the  instinct  of  the  Irish  born 
from  sleeping  for  centuries  upon  their  arms,  John  chal 
lenged  all  comers  to  stand  as  friends  or  foes  and  then  did 
business  with  them  accordingly.  "You  can't  handle 
office-seekers  with  Christian  Science,"  he  once  observed. 

Not  the  least  picturesque  element  in  this  interesting 
period  was  thus  furnished  in  Big  John  himself. 

Another  new  man,  C.  H.  Kelsey,  also  came  out  from 
Milwaukee  for  a  day  or  two.  In  appearance  Kelsey  sug 
gested  a  slightly  shrunken  edition  of  Governor  Peck  and 
occasionally  a  kinship  seemed  apparent  between  the 
writings  of  these  two  worthies.  To  Kelsey  was  later  to 
fall  the  duty  of  covering  the  legislative  session  for  the 
Philistinic  Milwaukee  Journal  and  explaining  each  day 
its  editorial  Ishmaelism.  Hated  by  many  and  trusted 
by  none  at  that  time,  his  sheet  was  nevertheless  read  by 
all  and  in  the  consciousness  of  this  fact  Kelsey  labored 
like  Sisyphus  to  keep  abreast  of  the  current  of  affairs. 


326  LAFOLLETTE 's  WINNING   OF  WISCONSIN 

The  soul  of  industry  and  fidelity,  he  delivered  the  goods, 
too,  and  as  per  color  desired,  writing  halos  or  hellfire 
around  " Uncle  Ike"  and  other  political  saints  and  sin 
ners  as  the  occasion  required.  Kelsey  hailed  from  upper 
Michigan,  but  previously  had  been,  as  he  said,  a  "burr" 
on  Hamilton  College  where  he  acquired  his  polish.  It 
is  said  that  Kelsey  was  once  sent  to  cover  a  big  German 
wedding  in  Milwaukee.  As  soon  as  the  newly-made 
deaf  old  father-in-law  learned  that  his  visitor  was  a 
representative  of  the  press  he  quickly  called  out : ' '  Frau ! 
Here  is  a  newspaper  man ;  get  him  something  to  eat. ' ' 

Kelsey 's  later  capital  city  assignment  could  scarcely 
be  considered  a  snap.  Besides  being  expected  to  be 
omnipresent  and  omniscient  with  reference  to  everything 
pertaining  to  the  legislature  and  statehouse,  he  was  ex 
pected  to  watch  the  city,  as  well,  never  to  sleep  more 
than  an  hour  at  a  time  and  then  with  one  eye  open  and 
to  be  ready  at  any  moment  to  interview  some  professor 
on  the  latest  bug,  or  Mrs.  Brown  on  how  she  felt  at  being 
left  out  from  the  last  Main  reception.  A  good  fellow, 
here's  a  toast  to  Kelsey! 

Where  is  the  pen  to  do  justice  to  Winter  Everett? 
Alas !  it  is  still  crude  gold  in  the  bosom  of  mother  earth. 
His  deserved  immortality  will  never  be  realized  in  its 
rich  completeness,  since  every  biographer  must  be  less 
than  his  hero.  Indefatigable,  pertinacious,  daring, 
Winter  had  been  known  in  his  early  years  as  the  boy 
wonder  of  the  newspaper  world  and  later  years  justified 
the  promise  of  his  teens.  In  industry,  conscientiousness 
and  devotion  to  his  sheet  he  approached  the  old  ideal  of 
service,  sweating  for  duty  not  for  hire. 

Winter's  imagination  was  the  despair  of  all  his  fellows. 
Theirs  was  to  his  as  moonlight  unto  sunlight,  or  as 
water  unto  wine.  Given  one  fact  they  but  clumsily 
recorded  it,  unconnected,  unadorned,  while  Winter  given 
one  would  add  another  and  from  the  combination  deduce 


THE  "PRESS  GANG"  327 

a  third.  This  trait  of  ' '  anticipating ' '  doubtless  was  re: 
sponsible  for  his  famous  and  original  phrase,  "echoes 
of  the  coming  fight." 

He  had  a  positive  genius  for  political  deduction  and 
candor  compels  the  admission  that  in  many  instances  his 
conclusions  later  were  verified  in  fact.  He  was  the  terror 
of  the  political  crook  and  many  a  man  in  Wisconsin  to 
day  is  trying  in  unobtrusive  and  contrite  ways  to  live 
down  some  discreditable  exposure  brought  about  by 
Winter's  merciless  pen.  His  record  for  scoops  stands 
perhaps  unmatched  in  Wisconsin  newspaper  history.  He 
it  was  who  during  this  exciting  period  laid  bare  the  fact 
and  compelled  the  admission  that  practically  all  the 
officials  in  the  attorney  general's  office,  LaFollette  ex 
ponents  though  they  were,  had  been  or  were  in  possession 
of  railroad  passes,  an  exposure  which  it  is  believed  was 
responsible  for  the  retirement  of  at  least  one  of  the  prin 
cipal  members  of  the  force.  His  keen  intuition  was  also 
shown  when  immediately  on  the  announcement  of  Len- 
root's  candidacy  for  governor  in  1906  he  predicted  that 
Herman  L.  Ekern  would  be  the  next  speaker  of  the  as 
sembly. 

Winter  came  to  be  known  as  the  keeper  of  LaFollette 's 
conscience.  When  all  the  other  correspondents  were 
thrown  off  the  trail,  when  the  state  remembering  LaFol 
lette 's  predilection  for  doing  the  startling  and  unex 
pected  knew  not  wThat  next  was  coming,  one  needed  but 
to  turn  to  the  columns  of  the  Daily  News  where  the  most 
intricate  processes  of  LaFollette 's  reasoning  and  in 
triguing  were  laid  bare.  In  fact,  it  is  said  that  the  gov 
ernor  himself  in  the  multitude  of  his  cares  occasionally 
reverted  to  Winter's  column  to  get  the  thread,  tempor 
arily  lost,  of  some  line  of  thought  or  policy  that  he  had 
contemplated,  but  this  may  be  a  Lush  exaggeration. 

Winter  had  alternately  dreamed  for  years  of  being  a 
farmer,  a  lawyer  or  a  great  editor,  but  the  continuance 


328  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING  or   WISCONSIN 

of  LaFollette  in  public  life  made  the  dream  more  and 
more  remote.  He  felt  that  his  mission  in  life  was  to 
camp  on  the  trail  of  LaFollette  and  to  inform  the  state 
of  his  movements  and  designs.  Grassie's  slogan,  "Watch 
Hatton,"  was  a  plagiarism  of  the  shibboleth  earlier 
adopted  by  Winter  for  his  exclusive  use,  "Watch  La 
Follette!"  In  justice  to  Winter  and  his  paper  it  should 
he  added  that  they  dealt  honestly  with  LaFollette  on  the 
whole  and  eventually  supported  much  of  his  legislation. 

Thoroughly  despising  shams  and  attitudes,  Winter 
knew  no  such  thing  as  human  greatness,  nor  did  any 
sanctity  attach  to  public  men  or  occasions.  He  Had  seen 
too  much  fustianism  in  it  all.  At  the  most  solemn  or 
thrilling  moments,  when  impassioned  orators  were  at  the 
climax  of  fervid  appeal,  shaking  the  state  and  creating 
new  political  epochs,  Winter  would  unconcernedly  stroll 
into  the  legislative  chamber  and  coolly  promenade  to  the 
speaker's  desk,  oblivious  to  all  that  was  being  said  and 
unpoetically  chewing  a  finger  nail  or  reading  a  news 
paper.  It  was  not  that  he  was  not  himself  interested  or 
failed  to  grasp  the  significance  of  the  occasion,  but  long 
contact  with  the  world  and  public  men  and  measures 
had  worn  off  all  provincial  wonder  and  awe  and  rounded 
him  into  the  typical  metropolitan  newspaper  man  who 
could  meet  tragedy  and  comedy  alike  unmoved  and  with 
out  surprise. 

To  show  how  utterly  inadequate  is  one  pen  to  do  justice 
to  a  facile  character  like  Everett  one  needs  but  to  read 
the  following  from  a  brother  scribe  whom  the  writer 
asked  to  contribute  some  impressions  of  the  Milwaukee 
genius.  He  wrote: 

Winter  Everett,  the  legislative  correspondent  of  the  Milwaukee 
Daily  News,  would  never  take  a  prize  at  a  beauty  show,  but  he  is 
a  hustler. 

In  earlier  years,  when  Winter  thought  it  was  cheaper  to  buy 
a  new  pair  of  socks  than  gather  the  old  ones  together  and  take 


THE  "PRESS  GANG"  329 

them  to  the  laundry,  he  was  known  as  the  ' '  boy  wonder ' '  and  he 
had  something  on  all  the  other  Marathon  writers. 

Former  Assemblyman  Henry  Huber  of  Stoughton  roomed  with 
Everett  when  they  were  students  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin. 
Winter  was  then  a  student  in  the  law  school  and  Huber  thought 
Winter  was  destined  to  become  president  of  the  United  States. 

' '  He  had  an  original  way  of  taking  down  lectures, ' '  said  Huber 
one  day.  ' '  He  would  attend  class,  take  a  few  notes,  and  then 
return  to  his  room  and  produce  the  lecture  verbatim,  it  seemed 
to  me.  I  could  never  understand  how  he  could  remember  so  ac 
curately  all  that  was  said.  Everett  explained  it  by  saying  that  it 
was  the  newspaper  way.  I  didn  't  know  much  about  newspapermen 
and  their  ways  at  that  time,  but  I  was  deeply  impressed  with 
Everett's  ability  to  reproduce  a  long  lecture  from  a  few  notes 
which  were  very  hard  to  read. ' ' 

Winter  was  raised  in  a  newspaper  office,  as  the  expression  goes, 
and  he  knows  the  game  for  what  it  is  worth.  He  has  been  re 
porting  politics  for  years,  which  means  that  he  is  not  the  most 
popular  man  in  the  world.  Winter  has  a  way  all  his  own.  He 
will  permit  a  fellow  newspaperman  to  tell  him  all  he  knows,  which 
may  not  take  long,  and  then  will  quietly  inform  you  that  he 
printed  that  same  story  two  weeks  ago. 

Before  I  knew  Everett  real  well  I  got  him  confused  with  Walter 
Wellman.  It  was  about  time  for  the  republican  platform  to  come 
from  the  printers.  The  newspapermen  were  putting  in  sleepless 
nights,  fearing  the  platform  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  some 
competitor.  I  met  Winter  in  the  capitol  and  told  him  the  first 
copies  of  the  platform  were  available.  As  a  cub  I  was  a  bit  proud 
to  think  that  I  knew  of  this  before  Everett  and  proceeded  to  tell 
him  about  a  few  of  the  planks.  One  plank  in  particular  was  of 
great  interest  to  him  and  I  gave  him  the  details  of  it. 

After  he  had  learned  all  I  knew,  he  said: 

' '  Why,  I  helped  to  write  that  plank  myself. ' ' 

A  few  minutes  later  Winter  was  in  our  office  asking  for  an  extra 
copy  of  the  platform,  and  it  seemed  a  little  strange  to  me  that 
he  should  ask  so  many  questions  about  the  very  plank  he  said 
he  had  helped  to  write. 

Winter  is  well  liked  on  the  Daily  News.  Down  there  they  think 
he  is  a  whale,  and  it  is  said  he  is  one  of  the  highest  salaried  scribes 
in  the  state.  Everett  is  too  busy  to  have  much  time  to  play. 
When  he  was  younger  he  was  a  pool  shark,  and  could  trim  most 
of  the  boys  in  the  Chicago  press  club.  During  the  Spanish  Amer 
ican  war  he  was  a  correspondent  in  the  south,  remaining  with  the 
troops  until  they  returned  north.  In  presidential  campaigns  he 


330  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

usually  rides  on  special  trains  with  the  candidates.  William  Jen 
nings  Bryan  knows  Winter  very  well,  and  when  he  was  last  in 
Madison  the  Milwaukee  scribe  rode  to  the  depot  on  the  top  seat 

of  Bryan's  carriage. 

#     *     * 

Bill  Schoenfield,  for  years  the  faithful  Madison  yard- 
master  of  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  was  on  hand  as  he 
always  had  a  faculty  of  being  whenever  in  the  vernacular 
"hell  broke  loose."  A  fellow  of  infinite  jest  and  a  laugh 
that  carried  contagion  with  it,  Bill  nevertheless  could  be 
sternly  serious  in  his  work.  Bill  had  a  remarkable  fac 
ulty  of  putting  quickly  the  essential  question  in  an  inter 
view,  then  quietly  and  unsuspectingly  leading  his  sub 
ject  off  into  pleasant  channels  of  forgetfulness  whence 
the  victim  would  wake  up  the  next  day  to  wonder  when, 
where  and  how  he  had  given  so  much  away.  Bill  hailed 
from  Monroe,  a  town  whose  principal  exports  have  been 
limberger  cheese  and  bright  newspaper  men.  No  other 
man  who  ever  operated  in  the  Madison  field  has  given 
the  world  so  many  amusing  feature  stories  as  Bill 
Schoenfield.  A  collection  of  the  university  and  capital 
romances  and  escapades  unearthed  by  him  would  make 
many  a  day's  entertaining  reading.  As  Assemblyman 
John  Hughes  said  at  a  press  dinner  afterwards :  ' '  The 
devil  who  was  responsible  for  giving  me  the  anti-tights 
notoriety  and  who  has  played  the  deuce  in  general  with 
more  politicians  than  anyone  else  is  Bill  Schoenfield. " 

Also,  there  was  young  Fred  Holmes,  whom  Dr.  Wilder 
described  as  of  the  tribe  of  Omros,  and  Louis  Bridgman, 
of  the  tribe  of  Antigos,  both  of  whom  the  doctor,  "in 
his  weakness  for  missionary  work, "  as  he  said,  had  taken 
under  his  protecting  wing ;  Bob  Knoff,  a  budding  Janes- 
ville  Hearst ;  ' '  Ned ' '  Jordan,  a  distressful  student  muck- 
raker  and  later  auto  king;  "Art"  Crawford,  a  later 
famous  correspondent,  and  lastly,  the  modest  writer  of 
these  pages. 

In  the  inner  chamber  with  the  governor  was  the  new 


THE  "PRESS  GANG"  331 

man  of  mystery  in  Wisconsin  politics  and  whose  taking 
of  a  train  at  Milwaukee  for  Madison,  with  one  or  two 
other  half  breed  leaders,  had  led  to  the  hegira  of  the 
press  sleuths  to  the  capital,  William  D.  Connor.  Con 
nor's  brief  flashing  as  a  luminary  across  the  sky  of  re 
form  may  be  here  noted. 

On  December  12,  1903,  LaFollette  went  to  NeillsviUe 
to  make  a  speech,  which  speech  was  generally  regarded  as 
practically  beginning  his  third  term  campaign.  After 
the  speech  a  man  came  to  the  hotel  where  LaFollette  was 
stopping  and  introduced  himself  as  W.  D.  Connor  of 
Marshfield.  He  appeared  a  quiet,  soft-spoken  man,  sin 
cere,  yet  with  somewhat  of  an  air  of  mystery.  He  de 
clared  that  he  had  suffered  long  from  unfair  treatment 
at  the  hands  of  the  railroads;  that  he  had  been  obliged 
to  build  his  own  lines  in  part ;  that  he  favored  the  propo 
sition  of  better  regulation  of  them  and  would  like  to 
help  the  LaFollette  cause  along.  LaFollette  thanked 
him;  welcomed  him  as  a  new  acquisition  and  after  a 
pleasant  visit  the  two  parted.  This  was  LaFollette 's 
first  meeting  with  Connor. 

The  next  spring,  after  the  capitol  had  burned,  Connor 
again  came  to  see  LaFollette  and  offered  to  help  the 
cause  along  with  a  cash  subscription.  He  contributed  to 
the  campaign  $1,000  or  more.  Apparently  he  then  put 
into  operation  some  of  the  craft  of  manipulation  for 
which  he  is  given  so  much  credit,  for  when  the  state  con 
vention  met  at  Madison  in  May  H.  W.  Chynoweth  an 
nounced  that  friends  of  the  Marshfield  man  were  urging 
the  election  of  Connor  as  chairman  of  the  state  central 
committee.  LaFollette  was  greatly  surprised  at  this  and 
made  the  observation  that  he  was  "pretty  new,"  that 
the  people  of  the  state  did  not  know  him,  that  he  had 
not  been  long  with  the  cause,  etc.  But  it  was  pointed  out 
that  he  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  therefore  his  selection 
would  turn  the  edge  of  the  charge  that  the  cause  was  a 


332  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

menace  to  men  of  business  (most  big  business  men  being 
against  it).  LaFollette  finally  yielded  and  Connor  was 
elected,  somewhat  to  the  surprise  of  the  people  of  the 
state. 

When  the  campaign  was  over  and  the  election  of  a 
legislature  of  the  LaFollette  persuasion  was  assured  Isaac 
Stephenson  of  Marinette  came  to  Madison  and  made 
known  to  Governor  LaFollette  that  he  wanted  the  United 
States  senatorship.  In  the  great  fight  for  the  state  ticket 
and  the  election  of  a  reform  legislature  the  remoter 
question  of  the  senatorship  had  scarcely  been  considered. 
LaFollette  informed  Stephenson  that  no  members  had 
been  pledged  to  any  candidate  so  far  as  he  knew  and 
advised  him  to  make  a  canvass  and  see  how  they  felt 
toward  him.  Stephenson  asked  LaFollette  to  name  a 
man  to  do  so,  but  LaFollette  declined  to  assume  this 
semblance  of  bossism  and  advised  Stephenson  to  get  his 
own  man.  Stephenson  secured  former  Assemblyman 
Henry  Overbeck,  who  visited  and  corresponded  with  the 
various  members,  and  finally  reported  to  Stephenson 
that  he  could  not  be  elected.  Stephenson  accepted  this. 
Then  at  a  meeting  of  the  state  central  committee  Connor 
is  reported  to  have  said,  in  jocular  or  serious  vein,  that 
the  only  man  who  could  be  elected  senator  was  W.  D. 
Connor.  This  was  the  first  intimation  that  Connor  had 
senatorial  aspirations. 

Late  in  November  Governor  LaFollette  went  to  St. 
Louis  to  visit  the  world's  fair.  He  was  followed  in  a 
day  or  two  by  his  private  secretary,  Colonel  Hannan, 
Senator  Stout  and  others,  who  came  in  deep  Agitation 
with  the  news  that  Connor  was  actively  laying  plans  for 
the  senatorship.  With  a  fight  on  between  him  and 
Stephenson  they  believed  the  cause  and  all  reform  legis 
lation  might  be  "shot  to  pieces."  Such  fight  must  be 
averted.  On  LaFollette 's  return  Connor  sent  word  ask 
ing  for  an  interview.  At  the  meeting,  as  the  story  goes, 


THE  "PRESS  GANG"  333 

he  informed  LaFollette  of  his  candidacy  and  wanted  the 
governor's  support.  LaFollette  told  Connor  he  ques 
tioned  the  wisdom  of  such  an  early  candidacy;  that  he 
(Connor)  was  not  well  enough  known  and  probably 
could  not  be  elected.  Quick  as  flash  Connor  asked: 

"Are  you  a  candidate?" 

"No,"  replied  the  governor. 

' '  Will  you  be  a  candidate  ? ' '  pursued  Connor. 

"No,  I  will  not  be  a  candidate,"  replied  LaFollette, 
"unless  conditions  make  it  necessary  in  order  to  retain 
harmony  and  secure  the  legislation  pledged  in  the  plat 
form.  If  they  do  make  it  necessary  I  shall  be  a  candi 
date  for  the  senate,  the  cemetery,  or  anything  else." 

"Are you  aware,"  continued  Connor,  as  the  story  goes, 
' '  that  the  man  who  can  control  twelve  votes  cannot  only 
control  the  senatorship  but  can  defeat  your  legislation?" 

A  stormy  scene  is  said  to  have  followed,  with  Connor 
leaving  the  executive  chamber  angry. 

LaFollette  was  unanimously  elected  senator  later  on, 
but  from  that  time  Connor  was  hostile  to  LaFollette. 


Mrs.    LaFollette   Speaking-   to   Farmers 


CHAPTER  XXII 
Pre-Convention  Contests. 

GOVERNOR  SOUNDS  KEYNOTE  OF  CAMPAIGN  IN  MILTON  JUNCTION 
GRANGE  SPEECH  —  DEFENDS  GRANGE  LEGISLATION  —  EXCITING 
CAUCUS  CAMPAIGN  OPENS — VOTE  IN  DANE  COUNTY  EXCEEDS  THAT 
IN  GENERAL  ELECTION — MANY  CONTESTS  IN  COUNTIES — INDICA 
TIONS  STALWARTS  DETERMINED  ON  DESPERATE  COURSE. 

W  ITH  jest  and  tale  the  assembled  newspapermen  had 
been  long  beguiling  the  time  in  the  outer  office. 

"Well,  when  I  was  do  in'  police  on  the  Sentinel,"  broke 
in  Everett,  whereat  there  was  a  sudden  retreat  on  the 
part  of  the  older  men  present.  Vandercook  suddenly 
remembered  that  he  had  an  important  engagement  at 
the  Park;  Powell  that  he  had  a  bulletin  to  file;  Kelsey 
that  Campbell  wanted  to  know  if  a  badger  was  a  "Wis- 
consinian  or  a  Wisconsonian. ' '  These  sudden  attacks  of 
professional  conscience  invariably  smote  his  fellows 
whenever  Winter  would  revert  to  his  police  days  on  the 
Sentinel. 

Winter  having  inflicted  his  story  on  his  remaining 
fellows,  " Uncle  Dick"  Petherick  began:  "That  re 
minds  me  of  a  story  of  Billy  Ginty."  Dick  could  al 
ways  be  counted  upon  for  a  Ginty  story. 

"I  was  once  sittin'  in  to  a  game  with  Billy,"  began 
Uncle  Dick — it  was  as  far  as  he  got.  The  door  suddenly 
flew  open. 

"Have  you  heard  that  the  stalwarts  have  leased  the 
opera  house  to  hold  a  rival  state  convention?"  yelled 
Kodney  Elward,  the  famous  Kipling  reciter,  as  he  came 
storming  in. 

It  was  the  first  public  intimation  of  the  far-reaching 
scheme  the  stalwarts  were  laying. 


PRE-CONVENTION  CONTESTS  335 

In  accordance  with  the  dashing  method  long  agreed 
upon,  the  administration  determined  to  rush  the  issue 
promptly  at  the  opening  of  the  new  year  and  events  were 
soon  moving  with  extraordinary  celerity. 

The  long  considered  plan  of  but  one  battle,  and  that 
an  early  and  decisive  one,  awaited  but  its  formal  an 
nouncement  when  the  chairman  of  the  state  central  com 
mittee  should  consider  the  hour  most  opportune.  In  the 
meantime  the  governor  was  engrossed  in  the  preparation 
of  his  first  political  speech  of  the  campaign  in  which  was 
to  be  sounded  the  keynote  of  the  coming  fight.  This 
speech,  the  keynote  of  1904,  delivered  before  the  Milton 
Junction  grange  January  29  was  in  effect  an  exhaustive 
historical  brief  in  defense  of  the  granger  legislation  of 
thirty  years  before  and  a  practical  reiteration  of  the  same 
issues  as  a  challenge  for  the  coming  campaign.  Thus  was 
this  extraordinary  campaign  to  witness  among  other 
anomalies  the  final  vindication  of  this  granger  legislation 
by  a  republican  governor  and  its  practical  repudiation 
by  the  party  that  had  enacted  it  and  on  the  issue  of 
which  it  had  once  ridden  into  power. 

Of  this  legislation  the  governor  said  in  part : 

The  granger  legislation  was  the  first  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  this  country  to  apply  the  rules  and  principles  of  the  law 
for  the  control  of  common  carriers  to  the  railroad  business  of  the 
country.  It  was  the  first  attempt  to  take  from  the  railroad  presi 
dents  the  kingly  prerogatives  which  made  them  masters  of  the 
highways  of  commerce  and  trade.  It  was  a  battle  royal,  and  as 
upon  the  meadows  of  Eunnymede,  Englishmen  first  wrested  from 
King  John  their  first  bill  of  rights,  so  in  the  granger  states  was 
the  great  battle  waged  which  established  as  the  law  of  this  country 
the  right  of  the  people,  through  legislation,  to  regulate  trans 
portation  charges  upon  the  railroads  of  the  land.  *  *  * 

The  repeal  of  the  Potter  law  is  now  general1-  regarded  as  a 
mistake  by  the  best  modern  writers  on  the  railway  problem.  It 
has  at  last  dawned  upon  them  and  others  that  the  law  was  just 
and  that,  above  all,  it  was  a  step  in  the  right  direction.  It  did 
not  do  away  with  discriminations.  But  this  was  because  the  roads 
declined  to  observe  the  law,  and  because  adequate  machinery  for 


336  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING  OF   WISCONSIN 

its  enforcement  had  not  been  provided.  Discriminations  will 
never  be  abolished  until  the  state  takes  complete  control  of  the 
rate-making  power. 

But  even  if  the  Potter  law  did  not  accomplish  all  that  was  ex 
pected  of  it,  it  taught  railway  managers  many  useful  lessons.  They 
learned  for  the  first  time  that  there  was  a  higher  authority.  This 
law  also  brought  the  question  before  the  courts,  and  by  the  de 
cisions  that  followed  all  doubt  was  forever  removed  as  to  the 
authority  of  the  state  to  fix  rates  and  exercise  control  over  the 
railroads.  This  alone  was  probably  worth  many  times  more  to  the 
people  than  the  cost  of  the  movement. 

A  suspension  of  activities  on  both  sides  was  caused 
by  the  burning  of  the  state  capitol,  February  27,  but  on 
March  18  the  state  central  committee  issued  the  call  for 
the  state  convention  to  be  held  in  Madison  on  the  early 
date  of  May  18.  Immediately  calls  for  caucuses  were 
issued  by  county  committees,  the  first  being  held  April 
16  in  Sauk  county.  Owing  to  the  coupling  of  the 
Baensch  candidacy  with  that  of  Congressman  Babcock 
just  before  this  Sauk  county  went  for  Baensch  and  in 
spired  the  greatest  elation  in  the  stalwart  camp.  Other 
counties  quickly  followed  and  the  returns  were  awaited 
with  the  keenest  anxiety  by  the  rival  factions,  the  caucus 
battles  often  sharing  double  column  head  honors  with 
the  battles  of  the  Russian-Japanese  war  then  raging.  A 
whirlwind  speaking  tour  by  Governor  L/aFollette  added 
a  dramatic  element  to  the  contest. 

April  18  was  one  of  the  great  caucus  days  of  the  cam 
paign,  no  less  than  fifteen  counties  electing  delegates. 
So  great  was  the  interest  taken  in  the  day 's  developments 
that  all  the  metropolitan  papers  issued  extras  as  the 
returns  from  important  counties  came  in. 

Particularly  interesting  was  the  battle  in  Dane  county 
where  was  presented  the  remarkable  spectacle  of  a  party 
caucus  vote  running  by  thousands  ahead  of  that  cast 
in  the  last  general  election.  It  was  also  to  furnish  an 
illustration  of  the  general  shrewdness  of  the  administra 
tion.  The  caucuses  for  the  country  districts  were  set 


PRE-CONVENTION  CONTESTS  337 

for  the  afternoon  while  those  for  the  cities  of  Madison 
and  Stoughton  were  called  for  the  evening.  Many  of  the 
townships  were  thus  able  to  report  before  sundown  and 
as  one  after  another  showed  heavy  returns  for  LaFollette 
the  administration  struck  off  handbills  giving  these  re 
turns  and  flooded  Madison  with  them,  almost  before  the 
polls  were  opened  in  the  city,  to  show  the  drift  of  the 
tide.  No  doubt  this  course  bore  results.  LaFollette 
carried  every  ward  in  the  city  of  Madison,  as  well  as 
every  ward  in  Stoughton.  The  total  republican  vote  for 
governor  in  the  county  in  the  preceding  election  of  1902 
was  7,561,  yet  the  caucus  returns  on  this  day  showed  a 
total  of  9,561  or  just  2,000  more,  LaFollette  receiving 
5,783  and  Baensch  3,778.  In  the  fifth  ward  of  Madison 
—the  university  ward — where  the  polls  were  closed  be 
fore  all  had  voted,  a  total  of  568  votes,  of  which  178 
were  on  affidavits,  was  cast  in  three  hours.  There  was 
great  rejoicing  in  the  administration  camp  at  this  vic 
tory.  A  great  throng  of  the  governor's  admirers  had 
gathered  in  the  executive  office  that  evening  to  receive 
returns.  In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  a  breathless 
courier  rushed  in  with  the  news  that  the  last  precinct  to 
report — the  heavy  fifth  ward  at  the  university — had  been 
carried  by  overwhelming  vote  for  LaFollette.  "That 
makes  it  unanimous,"  shouted  the  governor.  The  stal 
warts  raised  the  cry  that  the  administration  had  been 
voting  democrats,  a  charge  presumably  not  without 
foundation,  and  even  went  to  the  extent  of  serving 
formal  protest  upon  Chairman  Pederson  against  dele 
gates  to  the  state  convention  elected  by  democratic  votes. 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  to  note  that  while  the  total  vote 
of  the  city  was  about  5,000,  practically  4,000  votes  were 
cast  in  the  republican  caucuses.  Nevertheless  the  demo 
crats  controlled  in  the  city  election  that  spring,  in  fact 
had  a  clear  field. 


338  LAFOLLETTE 'S    WINNING    OF    WISCONSIN 

It  should  be  explained  that  the  republicans  of  Madison 
put  no  city  ticket  in  the  field.  This  course  was  believed 
to  reflect  the  wishes  of  the  governor,  who  perhaps  hoped 
to  profit  by  this  consideration  of  an  opposing  party,  and 
the  wisdom  of  which  was  established  by  the  later  caucus 
results.  The  democrats  apparently  turned  in  to  the 
republican  caucuses  in  large  numbers  and  supported  the 
administration. 

The  conference  at  which  the  decision  was  reached  to 
place  no  republican  ticket  in  the  city  field  was  an  interest 
ing  one.  A  delegation  of  local  republican  leaders — the 
writer,  as  secretary  of  the  city  committee,  among  them — 
called  on  the  governor  to  consider  the  course  to  be  pur 
sued  in  the  local  campaign.  The  democrats  had  nomi 
nated  William  D.  Curtis,  a  popular  and  progressive 
citizen,  for  mayor.  It  was  understood  that  the  governor 
desired  that  no  republican  candidate  be  put  in  the  field 
for  mayor,  holding  that  it  would  redound  to  the  advan 
tage  of  the  state  ticket  locally  were  the  somewhat  dubious 
hope  of  his  election  sacrificed  and  not  permitted  to  un 
necessarily  complicate  the  political  situation.  It  was 
important  that  the  administration  should  get  a  strong 
home  endorsement.  But  the  governor  refused  to  directly 
express  such  wish.  He  paced  the  floor  saying,  "It  is  not 
for  me  to  dictate ;  it  is  for  you  citizens  to  say. ' '  How 
ever,  his  callers  were  not  lacking  in  the  proverbial  faculty 
of  those  who  on  the  winking  of  authority  know  how  to 
interpret  a  law.  They  left  the  conference  and  no  candi 
date  was  nominated. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  power  to  employ  the  direct  and 
brutal  phrase.  Its  wishes  are  readily  interpreted,  how 
ever  delphic  the  suggestion.  A  certain  young  man  had 
taken  an  examination  before  a  state  board.  The  ex 
amination  returns  being  somewhat  slow  in  coming  in  an 
influential  relative  of  the  young  candidate  asked  the  gov 
ernor  if  he  could  not  prod  the  board  along  a  little. 


PBD-CONVENTION  CONTESTS  339 

Ringing  up  the  board,  the  governor  said :  ' '  Can  you  tell 
me  how  Mr.  So-and-So  came  out  in  the  examination  he 
took  recently.  I  am  quite  interested  in  him  and  would 
like  to  know  how  he  fared?"  After  a  moment  or  two 
the  board  reported  that  the  candidate  had  successfully 

passed  the  examination. 

*     *     * 

Rivalry  ran  so  high  as  to  at  times  promise  violence. 
On  the  eve  of  the  caucuses  in  Milwaukee  the  excitement 
was  so  great  that  it  was  feared  bloodshed  might  break 
out  the  next  day.  To  do  what  he  could  to  cripple  the 
LaFollette  forces,  Mayor  Rose  had  previously  removed  all 
the  election  inspectors  who  were  LaFollette  men  and  had 
filled  their  places  with  democrats  and  stalwarts.  It  was 
expected  that  these  officials  would  make  it  as  unpleasant 
as  possible  for  the  administration  voters  and  rush  them 
through  the  booths  with  scant  ceremony.  To  protect 
the  rights  of  the  voters  and  to  brace  them  up  the  LaFol 
lette  leaders  obtained  an  opinion  from  the  city  attorney 
that  a  voter  might  remain  in  a  booth  as  long  as  he 
wished,  providing  he  did  not  interfere  with  anyone  else 
in  voting.  This  opinion  was  printed  and  mailed  to  every 
worker  available  the  night  before,  together  with  an  ap 
peal  to  everyone  to  be  on  watch  and  to  stand  as  firm  for 
his  rights  at  the  polls  as  he  would  for  his  rights  in  his 
home.  This  action  no  doubt  had  some  deterring  influ 
ence  on  these  officials  the  following  day.  But  the  situa 
tion  was  a  tense  one.  Governor  LaFollette  arrived  in 
Milwaukee  in  the  afternoon  of  the  day  before  the 
caucuses  to  deliver  a  speech  there  in  the  evening. 

As  they  left  the  Plankinton  hotel  for  the  hall  where  the 
governor  was  to  speak  Henry  Cochems  could  not  forbear 
mentioning  the  anxiety  he  felt  over  the  outcome  the  fol 
lowing  day.  "We  may  see  some  bloody  times  at  some 
of  the  booths, ' '  he  remarked.  With  a  significant  grimace 
and  a  look  that  spoke  volumes  of  determination,  LaFol- 


340  LAFOLLETTE  *S     WINNING     OP     WISCONSIN 

lette  replied:  " Never  mind;  stand  firm;  I  am  still 
governor,  and  I  enjoy  the  pardoning  power."  There 
were  many  exciting  scenes  at  the  polls  next  day,  and  it 
is  said  many  guns  were  carried,  but  no  serious  clashes 
took  place. 

The  closeness  of  the  race  and  the  fact  that  caucuses 
were  held  up  to  within  a  day  of  the  opening  of  the  state 
convention  served  to  keep  interest  up  to  a  high  pitch. 
Although  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel  as  early  as  May  8  had 
practically  conceded  the  renomination  of  Governor  La- 
Follette,  the  stalwart  leaders  kept  up  strong  claims  of 
a  majority  to  the  end.  May  13  they  declared  they 
needed  but  four  votes  to  defeat  LaFollette  and  when  the 
last  caucuses  were  over  May  16  they  claimed  a  combined 
total  of  555  votes,  or  22  more  than  were  needed  to  win. 
The  administration,  on  the  other  hand,  claimed  a  total 
of  609  votes  and  conceded  329  to  Baensch  and  127  to 
Cook. 

But  there  were  many  contests. 

As  the  recognized  authority  on  credentials,  the  state 
central  committee  met  at  Madison  May  17,  the  day  be 
fore  the  convention,  and  held  sessions  until  11  o'clock 
the  next  day,  disposing  of  these  contests.  This  commit 
tee  included  sixteen  administration  men  and  six  stal 
warts.  It  was  shown  afterward  that  by  unanimous  vote 
the  committee  had  seated  a  clear  majority  of  administra 
tion  delegates.  Many  able  lawyers  appeared  before  the 
committee  in  the  interests  of  the  various  contestants. 
Since  it  was  the  action  of  this  committee  that  was  pleaded 
by  the  stalwarts  in  excuse  of  their  bolt,  a  brief  abstract 
of  its  proceedings  and  of  the  delegate  status  at  the  con 
vention  will  help  to  an  understanding  of  the  situation. 
A  careful  study  of  this  phase  of  affairs  made  at  the  time 
by  a  broad-minded  administration  supporter  follows : 

Of  the  1,065  delegates  elected,  108  were  contested,  leaving  957 
delegates  that  all  agreed  at  that  time,  were  entitled  to  seats  in  the 
convention. 


PBE-CONVENTION  CONTESTS  341 

Of  these  957  delegates,  those  from  the  following  counties  were 
for  Mr.  Cook:  Calumet,  7;  Pond  du  Lac,  25;  Green  Lake,  8; 
Vilas,  5;  Winnebago,  30;  Langlade,  4;  Outagamie,  21;  Kewaunee, 
3;  Milwaukee,  25;  making  128. 

Of  the  957  those  from  the  following  counties  and  districts  were 
for  Mr.  Baensch:  First  district  of  Brown  county,  11;  first  dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  9;  Door,  9;  Florence,  2;  Gates,  3;  Iron,  5; 
Jefferson,  15;  Kenosha,  12;  first  district  of  LaCrosse,  11;  Lang- 
lade,  2;  Lincoln,  9;  Manitowoc,  17;  Marathon,  19;  second  district 
of  Marinette,  9;  Marquette,  6;  Milwaukee,  38  2/3,  (or  perhaps 
only  37);  Ozaukee,  5;  Kock,  32;  Sauk,  18;  Shawano,  13;  first 
district  of  Sheboygan,  10;  Walworth,  20;  first  district  of  Wau- 
kesha,  10;  Pepin,  4;  Pierce,  14,  and  Washington,  10;  making  in 
all  313  2/3. 

Of  the  957  delegates  those  from  the  following  counties  and  dis 
tricts  were  for  LaFollette:  Adams,  6;  Barron,  12;  Bayfield,  10; 
second  district  of  Brown,  8;  Buffalo,  8;  Burnett,  4;  Chippewa,  13; 
Clark,  15;  second  district  of  Columbia,  10;  Crawford,  9;  Dane,  37; 
Douglas,  18;  Dunn,  12;  Forest,  2;  second  district  of  Grant,  12; 
Green,  12;  Iowa,  13;  Jackson,  11;  Juneau,  12;  Kewaunee,  4;  sec 
ond  district  of  LaCrosse,  10;  Lafayette,  11;  first  district  of  Mari 
nette,  1;  Milwaukee,  58  1/3;  Monroe,  15;  Oneida,  7;  Polk,  11; 
Portage,  13;  Price,  7;  Racine,  24;  Eichland,  10;  Sawyer,  3;  sec-/ 
<wuLdistri«t  of  LaCrosse,  10;  Lafayette,  11;  first  district  of  Mari- 
13;  making  for  LaFollette  515  1/3. 

Now  as  to  the  contests.  There  were  contests  in  the  following 
counties  and  districts:  Ashland,  12;  first  district  of  Dodge,  9; 
second  district  of  Dodge,  10;  first  district  of  Eau  Claire,  9;  sec 
ond  district  of  Eau  Claire,  9;  first  district  of  Grant,  11;  Oconto, 
11;  St.  Croix,  13;  Milwaukee,  second  ward,  5;  fourth  ward,  6; 
fourteenth  ward,  3;  seventeenth  ward,  5,  and  eighteenth  ward,  5; 
making  in  all  the  108  contested  delegates. 

Before  we  examine  these  contests  it  may  be  well  to  state  a  few 
other  facts.  On  Afay  11  the  state  central  committee  gave  notice 
that  it  would  meet  at  Madison  on  Tuesday,  May  17,  at  9  o'clock 
a.  m.,  to  pass  upon  the  delegates  to  the  state  convention. 

Let  us  examine  briefly  the  contests  where  the  state  central  com 
mittee  recommended  that  the  stalwart  delegates  be  given  seats  in 
the  convention.  In  the  assembly  district  convention  for  the  first 
district  of  Dodge  county— it  was  claimed  that  the  LaFollette  men 
had  31  delegates  to  29  of  the  opposition,  without  counting  proxies. 
A  motion  was  made  that  no  proxies  be  allowed,  which  was  declared 
out  of  order  by  the  stalwart  chairman.  It  was  further  claimed 
that  no  legal  caucuses  were  held  in  three  towns  which  sent  stal- 


342  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   or  WISCONSIN 

wart  delegates;  that  if  these  delegates  had  not  been  permitted  to 
take  part  in  the  convention  the  LaFollette  men  would  have  been 
in  the  majority,  and  I  think  these  claims  were  true,  but  notwith 
standing  that,  the  state  central  committee  voted  unanimously  to 
place  the  stalwart  delegates  on  the  temporary  roll  of  the  conven 
tion.  This  added  nine  to  the  Baensch  vote. 

To  the  assembly  district  convention  in  the  second  district  of 
Dodge  county  42  delegates  were  elected — 22  in  favor  of  LaFollette 
and  20  in  opposition. 

At  the  convention  the  vote  stood  23  for  Baensch  delegates  and 
19  for  LaFollette  delegates.  How  was  this  change  brought  about? 
By  three  delegates  who  proved  false  to  the  men  who  elected  them. 
The  only  excuse  given  for  this  change  was  that  a  delegate  had  the 
right  to  change  his  mind.  Well,  the  state  central  committee  gave 
these  votes  to  Mr.  Baensch,  and  the  people  were  cheated  out  of 
their  rights. 

The  stalwart  delegates  from  the  fourth,  fourteenth,  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  wards  of  the  city  of  Milwaukee  were  seated  by 
the  committee,  19  in  all.  No  delegates  from  the  second  ward 
were  seated,  because  of  the  frauds  committed  at  the  caucus. 

In  the  St.  Croix  convention  there  was  a  mix-up.  I  have  read 
carefully  the  statements  made  by  parties  at  the  Opera  House 
caucus,  or  convention  as  some  are  pleased  to  call  it,  and  find  it 
very  difficult  to  determine  which  party  had  the  majority  of  the 
delegates  in  the  county  convention.  One  of  the  parties  there  said, 
"our  voting  strength  was  at  least  35  to  their  34,"  while  the  La 
Follette  men  claimed  they  had  a  majority  of  two.  I  suppose  it 
was  hard  for  the  committee  to  determine  the  matter  and  so  they 
concluded  to  divide  the  delegation  between  both  parties,  as  is 
often  done,  and  by  the  action  they  added  6%  to  the  LaFollette 
column.  This  the  stalwart  members  of  the  committee  did  not 
agree  to.  They  insisted  on  placing  the  whole  13  stalwart  dele 
gates  on  the  temporary  roll,  and  recommending  that  the  13  stal 
wart  delegates  be  given  permanent  seats  in  the  Convention.  This, 
as  I  have  said,  gave  43%  votes  in  the  convention  to  the  Baensch 
vote,  making  it  in  all  357  1/6. 

Now  what  about  the  other  contests?  In  Ashland  county  the 
LaFollette  men  elected  17  delegates  to  the  county  convention  and 
the  opposition  only  14.  The  county  was  then  for  LaFollette.  Two 
of  the  LaFollette  delegates  remained  away  from  the  convention, 
for  what  reason  does  not  appear.  It  does  appear,  however,  that 
neither  of  them  ever  informed  any  of  the  other  LaFollette  dele 
gates  that  they  would  not  attend  the  convention.  The  13  LaFol 
lette  delegates  attended  the  convention  and  the  14  in  opposition 


PRE-CONVENTION  CONTESTS  343 

also.  A  ballot  was  taken  for  delegates.  The  stalwart  chairman 
announced  it  15  votes  for  stalwart  delegates  and  14  for  LaFollette 
delegates.  The  15  LaFollette  men  immediately  arose  and  insisted 
that  there  was  a  mistake,  or  fraud,  but  they  could  get  no  redress. 
The  15  men  organized  into  a  convention  and  elected  the  12  dele 
gates  they  had  voted  for  before,  and  made  affidavits  to  the  facts. 
If  the  chairman  or  teller  had  made  a  mistake  in  the  count  it  ought 
to  have  been  corrected,  of  course.  Well,  the  state  central  com 
mittee  decided  to  put  these  12  LaFollette  delegates  from  Ashland 
county  on  the  temporary  roll  of  the  convention,  which  was  clearly 
right. 

In  the  convention  for  the  second  district  of  Dodge  county,  the 
total  number  of  delegates  under  the  call  was  89.  Legal  notices 
of  the  caucuses  in  three  precincts  were  not  given,  which  reduced 
the  number  to  80,  and  of  this  number  the  LaFollette  men  had  43 
and  the  opposition  37.  On  a  vote  for  temporary  chairman  a  di 
vision  was  called  for  and  refused.  A  demand  for  a  ballot  was 
refused  by  the  stalwart  chairman.  A  committee  on  credentials 
was  appointed  which  refused  to  give  the  LaFollette  men  a  hearing. 
The  LaFollette  men  withdrew  and  organized  a  convention  and 
elected  delegates  to  the  state  convention  and  these  ten  delegates 
were  placed  upon  the  temporary  roll  of  the  convention  by  the  state 
central  committee. 

The  next  in  order  is  the  first  district  of  Eau  Claire  county.  It 
was  clearly  shown  that  the  LaFollette  delegates  were  in  the  ma 
jority  in  this  convention.  The  minority  began  to  bulldoze.  It 
was  almost  a  free  fight.  The  majority  withdrew  to  an  adjoining 
room  and  there  elected  the  delegates,  and  these  nine  delegates 
were  placed  upon  the  temporary  roll  of  the  convention  by  the 
unanimous  vote  of  the  state  central  committee. 

Under  the  call  for  the  assembly  district  convention  of  Grant 
county  94  delegates  were  to  be  elected.  When  they  came  to  the 
convention  they  stood  52  for  LaFollette  and  42  for  the  opposition. 
In  the  caucus  at  Potosi  there  was  a  tie  vote,  and  the  parties  agreed 
to  divide  the  delegates,  four  for  LaFollette  and  three  for  Baensch, 
and  that  was  done,  and  these  delegates  attended  the  convention. 
Afterward  a  young  man  made  affidavit  that  he  was  not  21  years 
of  age  and  that  he  had  voted  for  the  LaFollette  delegates.  If  true, 
and  he  had  not  voted  at  all,  then  seven  Baensch  delegates  would 
have  been  elected  from  the  town  of  Potosi,  and  the  convention 
would  have  stood  48  for  LaFollette  delegates  and  46  for  the  oppo 
sition. 

To  overcome  this  majority  the  stalwarts  contended  that  Beetown 
should  have  two  votes  in  the  convention,  although  the  town  was 


344  LAFOLLETTE 's  WINNING  OP  WISCONSIN 

entitled  to  six.  The  town  of  Beetown  at  its  caucus  elected  six 
LaFollette  delegates  and  the  caucus  authorized  those  present  at 
the  convention,  in  case  of  vacancy,  to  cast  the  full  vote  of  the 
town.  Only  two  of  the  six  attended  the  convention  and  they 
claimed  the  right  to  cast  the  full  vote  of  the  town.  This  right  was 
granted  to  them  by  the  convention.  If  the  stalwarts  could  have 
deprived  the  town  of  Beetown  of  four  of  its  votes  they  would 
have  had  the  majority  of  the  convention.  These  were  the  facts 
as  to  the  Grant  county  convention.  The  state  central  committee 
voted  unanimously  to  seat  the  LaFollette  delegates  from  this  dis 
trict.  And  the  committee  did  right. 

In  Oconto  county,  under  tke  call,  88  delegates  were  to  be 
elected.  The  south  ward  of  the  city  of  Oconto  was  entitled  to 
six  delegates  in  the  convention,  but  there  was  really  no  election 
of  delegates  in  that  ward.  A  stalwart  teller  in  that  ward  swept 
the  ballots  off  the  table  onto  the  floor  where  they  became  mixed 
with  other  ballots.  When  they  were  picked  up  it  was  found  that 
the  number  of  ballots  did  not  agree  with  the  number  of  names  qn 
the  tally  sheet.  The  chairman  and  secretary  of  the  caucus  refused 
to  certify  to  the  election  of  any  delegates,  stating  that  it  was  im 
possible  for  them  to  tell  who  had  the  majority  of  the  votes.  But 
the  stalwarts  sent  a  delegation  to  represent  this  ward,  and  they 
were  permitted  to  take  part  in  the  convention.  At  a  caucus  of 
LaFollette  delegates  held  only  a  few  minutes  before  the  county 
convention  met  there  were  present  and  represented  by  proxy  45^ 
votes,  a  clear  majority  of  the  whole  number.  During  the  interim 
the  stalwarts  in  some  way  induced  a  LaFollette  delegate  holding 
two  proxies  to  leave  and  not  take  part  in  the  convention  and  an 
other  LaFollette  delegate  who  took  part  in  the  said  caucus  was 
induced  to  leave  the  administration  side  and  join  the  opposition. 

That  disposed  of  four  LaFollette  votes.  At  the  convention  the 
stalwart  chairman  of  the  county  committee  called  the  convention 
to  order,  and  refused  a  ballot  for  temporary  chairman,  although 
there  were  two  candidates. 

A  committee  on  credentials  was  appointed  by  him  in  the  same 
way,  every  one  of  which  was  a  stalwart.  In  one  town  a  caucus 
was  held  on  due  notice  at  which  three  LaFollette  delegates  were 
elected.  Another  caucus  was  held  at  another  part  of  the  town, 
without  notice,  at  which  three  opposition  delegates  were  elected, 
and  the  stalwart  committee  on  credentials  voted  to  seat  the  last 
three  in  the  convention.  In  another  town  a  caucus  was  duly  held 
at  which  one  LaFollette  delegate  was  elected,  and  there  was  a 
tie  as  to  the  other  three.  After  the  result  was  announced  the 
stalwarts  held  another  caucus  and  pretended  to  elect  three  stal- 


FEE-CONVENTION  CONTESTS  345 

wart  delegates  and  one  LaFollette  delegate,  and  these  delegates 
the  committee  on  credentials  attempted  to  seat  in  the  convention. 
Another  town  was  only  entitled  to  two  delegates  but  they  seated 
three  in  the  convention,  and  all  of  them  were  stalwarts.  And  the 
committee  reported  in  favor  of  seating  six  delegates  from  the  ward 
above  mentioned  where  there  was  no  election  of  delegates.  And 
then  a  ballot  was  refused  on  the  adoption  of  the  report  of  the 
committee.  Then  the  LaFollette  delegates  withdrew  and  held  a 
convention  and  by  a  vote  of  41%  elected  the  delegates  which  were 
seated  by  the  state  central  committee  in  the  state  convention.  It 
is  clear  that  Oconto  county  was  rightly  placed  in  the  LaFollette 
column. 

As  I  have  already  said,  6%  delegates  from  St.  Croix  county 
were  given  to  LaFollette,  making  59%,  which  added  to  the  515  1/3 
make  574  5/6,  to  485  1/6  for  both  Cook  and  Baensch. 

But  suppose  you  sav  that  you  think  the  opposition  was  entitled 
to  St.  Croix  county.  Well,  and  let  us  give  to  them  the  benefit  of 
all  doubts  as  to  Oconto  county  and  the  second  district  of  Dodge, 
making  27%  in  all,  and  add  that  number  to  their  485  1/6,  making 
512  2/3,  and  even  add  to  that  the  five  from  the  second  ward  of 
Milwaukee  (to  which  they  are  in  no  way  entitled),  making  a  total 
of  517  2/3,  and  they  are  still  40  short  of  what  they  claim  they  had 
at  their  convention  at  the  opera  house.  That  would  still  leave  the 
LaFollette  ticket  547  1/3,  fourteen  more  than  a  majority  of  the 
whole  1,065. 

This  only  gives  to  the  LaFollette  ticket,  of  the  contested  dele 
gates,  Ashland,  12 ;  first  district  of  Eau  Claire,  9,  and  first  district 
of  Grant,  11 ;  and  no  fair  man  will  say  that  would  not  be  just  and 
honest.  All  these  547  1/3  delegates  remained  in  the  gymnasium 
convention  and  voted  for  the  LaFollette  ticket.  I  therefore  con 
cluded  that  the  LaFollette  ticket  was  fairly  'nominated  and  en 
titled  to  the  support  of  the  republican  party  of  the  state. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
The  Opera  House  Caucus. 

KUMORS  OF  POSSIBLE  RIOTING — EXTRAORDINARY  PRECAUTIONS 
TAKEN — GREAT  EXCITEMENT  IN  MADISON — STALWARTS  HOLD 
" CAUCUS"  MEETING  IN  OPERA  HOUSE — FIERY  SPEECH  BY  M.  G. 
JEFFRIS — STALWARTS  MARCH  TO  GYMNASIUM — MUST  RUN  GAUNT 
LET  OF  GUARDS — INCIDENTS  OF  OPENING  OF  CONVENTION. 

IVUMORS  of  possible  violence  at  the  state  convention 
were  current  long  before  the  convention  day  arrived. 
The  fact  that  the  stalwarts  for  some  time  had  leased  the 
Fuller  opera  house  at  Madison  and  retained  attorneys  to 
safeguard  their  legal  rights  indicated  their  determination 
upon  an  aggressive  course.  Physical  clashes  had  oc 
curred  at  some  of  the  caucuses  and  conventions,  notably 
at  Janesville,  and  many  regarded  similar  outbreaks  at 
the  state  convention  as  more  than  possible. 

Because  of  this  fact  and  the  general  excitement  pre 
vailing,  great  crowds  of  rival  partisans  and  interested 
politicians  poured  into  Madison  the  day  before  the  con 
vention.  Practically  every  incoming  train  had  its 
crowded  extra  coaches.  Excited  throngs  filled  the  hotel 
lobbies  and  streets,  and  the  air  was  charged  with  the 
electricity  of  controversy  and  apprehension. 

The  action  of  the  state  central  committee  in  seating  a 
majority  of  LaFollette  delegates  fanned  into  flame  the 
discontent  which  was  consuming  many  of  the  ardent 
opponents  of  the  administration.  Accordingly  when  the 
stalwarts,  in  conformity  with  their  call,  met  in  ' '  caucus ' ' 
in  the  opera  house  that  evening  the  feeling  of  appre 
hension  and  excitement  was  heightened. 

This  opera  house  gathering  was  one  of  the  remarkable 
features  of  the  campaign  that  year  and  wholly  unpre 
cedented  in  state  political  history. 


THE  OPERA  HOUSE  CAUCUS  347 

Never  before  had  a  factional  body  of  such  magnitude 
met  on  the  eve  of  a  state  convention  and  in  open  and  de 
fiant  speech  practically  declared  war  to  the  knife  on  an 
opposing  faction.  It  had  none  of  the  characteristics  of 
a  caucus ;  the  slates  had  already  been  made  up ;  there 
was  no  secrecy;  the  doors  were  thrown  wide  open  to 
the  public.  Obviously  the  purpose  of  the  meeting  was  to 
give  vent  to  the  feelings  raging  in  the  bosoms  of  an 
exasperated  opposition  and  to  create,  if  possible,  a  wave 
of  prejudice  against  the  administration.  When  the 
meeting  was  called  to  order  by  T.  W.  Spence  of  Milwau 
kee,  the  house  was  filled  with  an  eager,  expectant  throng. 
A  sort  of  official  tone  was  given  the  occasion  by  the  pres 
ence  in  the  boxes  of  former  Governors  Upham  and  Sco- 
field,  Federal  Judge  Bunn  and  other  notables.  Spence 
proposed  for  chairman  of  the  meeting  M.  G.  Jeffris  of 
Janesville,  who  met  the  expectations  of  the  occasion  by 
delivering  a  most  fiery  and  scathing  denunciation  of 
Governor  LaFollette  and  the  administration.  The  state 
central  committee  was  also  roundly  scored  and  the 
speaker  hinted  broadly  of  rioting  and  violence  in  the  con 
vention  the  following  day  were  the  "  rights  of  any  dele 
gates  overridden  by  the  admin  istration." 

After  a  number  of  other  fervent  speakers  had  been 
heard  the  gathering  adopted  amid  resounding  cheers  a 
resolution  that  "the  anti-third-term  delegates  should 
meet  at  the  opera  house  at  11  o'clock  the  next  morning 
and  march  in  a  body  to  the  gymnasium  and  demand  their 
rights."  It  boded  ill  for  a  peaceful  morrow. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  a  mysterious  badge  inscribed 
"Hiker"  had  made  its  appearance  and  soon  came  to  be 
generally  worn  by  stalwart  delegates  and  adherents.  Its 
import  none  seemed  to  know.  The  stalwarts  explained 
afterwards  that  the  term  was  borrowed  from  the  army  in 
the  Philippines  and  meant  "one  who  walks,"  hence  one 
who  favored  walking  out  of  the  convention ;  but  the  ad- 


348  LAFOLLETTE  JS    WINNING    OP    WISCONSIN 

ministration  leaders  regarded  the  badge  with  more  sus 
picion.  They  professed  to  fear  it  had  a  more  sinister 
significance  which  would  later  develop. 

Promptly  at  the  appointed  hour  the  following  morning 
the  sfalwart  delegates  and  other  " hikers"  formed  in 
line  four  abreast  in  the  street  in  front  of  the  opera  house, 
and  with  two  American  flags  at  their  head  marched  to 
the  gymnasium  nearly  a  mile  away. 

It  was  on  arriving  at  their  destination  at  the  gym 
nasium  that  they  were  first  impressed  in  a  manner  cal 
culated  to  sober  any  mutinous  feelings  that  might  be 
burning  within  them. 

In  anticipation  of  trouble  and  possible  rioting,  the  most 
extraordinary  precautions  had  been  taken  by  the  admin 
istration  forces.  Adolph  H.  Kayser  of  Madison,  a  man 
of  powerful  physique  and  undoubted  courage,  had  been 
appointed  sergeant-at-arms  for  the  convention.  He  an 
nexed  to  himself  a  regiment  of  assistants  and  trans 
formed  the  gymnasium  into  a  scene  not  unlike  a  penal 
institution. 

A  powerful  wire  fence  eight  feet  high  was  built  square 
across  the  hall  to  separate  the  delegates  and  spectators 
and  prevent  their  ' '  mixing  up  "  in  case  of  trouble.  The 
north  half  of  the  hall  was  assigned  to  the  delegates. 
Spectators  were  admitted  at  the  regular  front  entrance 
at  the  south,  but  the  delegates  were  directed  to  a  smaller 
door  on  the  west  side.  Extending  out  some  distance 
from  the  side  door  was  built  a  runway  through  which 
delegates  had  to  pass  in  single  file.  The  runway  also 
extended  up  the  stairs  to  an  inner  door,  and  eleven  feet 
into  the  building.  These  preparations  had  been  mat3e  in 
the  face  of  the  protest  of  Chief  of  Police  H.  C.  Baker  of 
Madison,  who  not  only  refused  to  supply  the  police  force 
desired,  but  compelled  Kayser  to  loosen  certain  doors 
that  had  been  padlocked  and  braced.  A  long  contro 
versy  between  Baker  and  administration  representatives 


THE  OPERA  HOUSE  CAUCUS  349 

occurred  later  on  in  the  campaign  in  which  affidavits 
were  freely  exchanged  over  these  matters.  The  stal 
wart  press  roundly  denounced  the  precautions  taken  as 
an  insult  to  the  delegates  and  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel 
painted  a  lurid  editorial  picture  of  the  dire  possibilities 
had  a  fire  broken  out  during  the  convention.  At  each 
side  of  the  outer  end  of  the  runway  stood  several  brawny 
guards  to  regulate  the  inflowing  stream  of  humanity, 
while  a  brigade  of  deputies,  sheriffs  and  special  guards 
stretched  on  each  side  up  the  steps  to  the  inner  door 
where  were  still  others  acting  as  ushers.  Bull-throated 
giants  from  near  and  far  had  been  drafted  into  service. 
There  was  Evan  Lewis,  the  famous  strangler  and  one 
time  champion  wrestler  of  the  world;  Fred  Kull,  the 
towering  center  rush  of  the  university  football  team  a 
decade  before ;  Levi  Pollard  of  iron  frame ;  Ed.  Vander- 
boom,  "Dick"  Remp,  "Norsky"  Larson  and  other  re 
nowned  football  warriors ;  besides  present  and  past  peace 
officers,  blacksmiths,  etc.,  of  strong  arm  and  tried  cour 
age.  It  is  said  there  were  also  fifty  students  from  the 
athletic  teams  of  the  university  inside  and  outside  the 
building  ready  to  spring  at  a  signal  to  take  a  hand  in 
suppressing  any  rioting  that  might  occur.  A  couple  of 
these  guards  had  done  time  for  various  offenses  in  the 
past  which  later  provided  the  opposition  with  much  food 
for  merriment  and  gave  Chief  of  Police  Baker  an  excuse 
for  sending  home  eight  of  his  men  whom  he  said  he  would 
not  humiliate  by  having  them  associate  with  jailbirds 
and  wife-beaters. 

Tickets  countersigned  by  the  state  central  committee 
were  required  of  both  spectators  and  delegates  and  as 
each  side  charged  the  other  with  having  printed  counter 
feit  tickets  over  night  everyone  admitted  was  "man 
handled,"  as  the  stalwarts  declared,  by  these  guards, 
much  to  the  resentment  of  many  dignified  party  war- 
horses  of  the  past  whose  entrance  upon  other  conventions 


360  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING  or   WISCONSIN 

they  recalled  had  been  marked  with  pomp  and  circum 
stance,  with  deference  and  salvos  from  the  admiring 
crowds.  What  a  pitiful  and  humiliating  contrast  this! 
But  swallowing  their  pride  they  fell  out  of  ranks  and — • 
some  with  smiles,  others  with  flushed  faces  and  sharp 
words  of  censure — filed  singly  into  the  building.  The 
stern  spirit  of  the  proceedings  was  shown  when  one,  Col 
onel  Boyle,  was  held  up  by  "  Ed  "  Tracy,  a  guard.  Chief 
of  Police  Baker  stepped  forward  and  said,  "This  is 
Colonel  Boyle  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul 
railroad. "  "  That 's  no  recommend, ' '  retorted  Tracy.  Not 
until  Sergeant  Kayser  interceded  was  Boyle  admitted. 
Many  of  the  delegates  who  had  been  refused  seats  by 
the  state  central  committee  sought  admission  to  the  dele 
gate  section  and  some  of  them  created  "scenes"  when 
denied  entrance,  but  were  summarily  hustled  from  the 
entrance  by  the  resolute  officials.  Such  were  the  circum 
stances  of  the  opening  of  this  memorable  and  last  repub 
lican  state  convention  in  Wisconsin. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

Gymnasium  Convention. 

INTENSE  INTEREST  TAKEN  IN  PROCEEDINGS — FEARS  OF  OUTBREAK 
AT  OPENING — STALWART  LEADER  JEFFRIS  OVERRULED — GREAT 
DEMONSTRATION  AT  CHAIRMAN  LENROOT'S  MENTION  OF  LAFOL- 
LETTE  's  NAME — THE  ROSENBERRY  INCIDENT — FIRST  TEST  VOTE 
GIVES  ADMINISTRATION  MAJORITY — STALWART  LEADERS  PROTEST 
AND  COOK  PLEADS  FOR  PARTY  PEACE — JEFFRIS  LEADS  BOLT  OF 
BAENSCH  DELEGATES  FROM  HALL — COOK  DELEGATES  REMAIN. 

l_y  ONG  before  the  stroke  of  noon  every  available  part 
of  room  in  the  great  convention  hall  at  the  university 
gymnasium  was  occupied  by  an  eager  throng  consumed 
with  expectancy,  curiosity,  apprehension.  The  great 
drama  was  about  to  open.  The  crisis  in  the  party  was 
at  hand  and  the  supreme  hour  in  LaFollette  's  great  fight. 
Would  he  have  the  convention  in  hand;  was  the  party 
finally  to  destroy  itself;  would  there  be  violence  and  a 
test  of  physical  strength  between  the  excited  partisans 
now  under  such  high  tension  of  belligerency?  These 
were  among  the  questions  each  asked  himself  and  his 
neighbor.  Mrs.  LaFollette  and  her  children  and  a  few 
friends  came  in  and  amid  a  hearty  round  of  applause 
took  seats  on  the  stage.  As  with  the  utmost  serenity  they 
sat  and  surveyed  the  flag-draped  hall  and  the  scene  before 
them  many  trembled  for  their  safety  in  the  event  of  an 
outbreak. 

Was  Mrs.  LaFollette  unaware  of  the  more  than  pos 
sible  danger  of  her  situation,  they  asked?  Surely  one 
so  intelligent  and  in  such  close  touch  with  the  develop 
ments  of  the  last  few  hours  could  not  be.  Perhaps  be 
cause  of  the  very  danger  of  a  physical  struggle  she  had 
bravety  resolved  to  project  herself  into  the  situation  that 
the  influence  of  her  presence  might  to  that  degree  re- 


352  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF  WISCONSIN 

strain  the  passions  threatening  to  burst  their  bounds.  A 
more  timid  woman  would  have  shrunk  from  the  sacrifice. 
Whatever  the  facts,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  presence 
of  Mrs.  LaFollette  and  the 'other  women  on  the  stage 
had  a  sobering  influence  upon  the  great  gathering.  It  is 
perhaps  not  too  much  to  say  that  but  for  her  resolution 
to  attend  the  proceedings  factional  rivalry  might  have 
gone  to  more  unfortunate  lengths  than  it  did. 

The  venerable  Chairman  Bryant,  imperturbable  as 
destiny,  also  was  an  object  of  solicitude  as  he  moved 
about  arranging  the  final  setting. 

The  university  students,  who  hung  from  windows  and 
girders  all  over  the  building,  alone  seemed  possessed  of 
a  spirit  of  levity.  Periodically  the  Wisconsin  yell  and 
other  calls  would  be  given  in  resounding  fashion,  inter 
spersed  with  this  adaptation  of  a  then  popular  football 
song: 

Cheer!     Boys,  cheer!     LaFollette 's  got  the  ball! 
U-rah-ah !     Oh,  won 't  they  take  a  fall  ? 
For  when  we  hit  their  line  they'll  have  no  line  at  all! 
There  '11  be  a  hot  time  in  Wisconsin  tonight,  my  baby ! 

The  newspapermen,  of  whom  hundreds  seemed  to  have 
been  drawn  to  the  scene  from  near  and  far,  were  fever 
ishly  alert.  A  series  of  long  picnic  tables,  with  seats  on 
both  sides  and  stretching  clear  across  the  hall,  had  been 
set  up  for  them  in  front  of  the  speakers'  platform  at  the 
north  end,  and  a  stream  of  bulletins  flowed  from  the 
building  long  before  the  convention  opened  and  as  the 
drama  progressed  toward  the  first  clash  of  arms. 

Practically  from  the  close  of  Chaplain  Updike 's  prayer 
the  convention  was  in  an  unroar,  and  only  the  extraor 
dinary  police  precautions  taken  and  the  firmness  and 
fairness  of  Chairman  Lenroot  prevented  a  physical  clash. 
The  prayer  ended,  General  George  E.  Bryant,  as  chair 
man  of  the  state  central  committee,  announced  that  the 
committee  had  passed  upon  the  credentials  of  the  dele- 


GYMNASIUM  CONVENTION  353 

gates  and  that  the  secretary  would  call  the  roll.  Mr. 
Jeffris,  the  stalwart  floor  leader,  at  once  protested  and 
demanded  that  the  convention  be  first  temporarily  or 
ganized.  Asked  to  make  a  motion  to  dispense  with  the 
reading,  he  declared: 

We  do  not  want  to  dispense  with  it;  but  the  order  of  business  is 
to  appoint  a  temporary  chairman. 

Mr.  Jelfris  was  declared  out  of  order  by  Chairman 
Bryant  and  the  roll  of  delegates  as  made  up  by  the  state 
central  committee  was  read,  following  which  General 
Bryant  announced  the  selection  by  the  committee  of  I. 
L.  Lenroot  of  Superior  for  chairman  of  the  convention, 
C.  0.  Marsh  of  Antigo  for  secretary  and  Adolph  H. 
Kayser  of  Madison  for  sergeant-at-arms.  These  were 
then  duly  installed  without  dissent.  Mr.  Lenroot  then 
gave  his  address.  This  was  a  ringing,  militant  effort,  in 
strong  defense  of  the  administration.  His  first  mention 
of  LaFollette's  name  precipitated  a  demonstration  that 
lasted  nearly  a  half  hour,  according  to  the  hostile  State 
Journal's  account. 

At  only  one  point  may  this  address  be  said  to  have 
struck  an  unresponsive  chord  with  both  friend  and  foe. 
In  opening  his  address  Chairman  Lenroot  said : 

This  great  gathering  of  the  republican  party  of  Wisconsin  will 
be  memorable  in  many  ways;  it  will  be  memorable  as  the  last 
republican  convention  in  Wisconsin  for  the  nomination  of  state 
officers. 

So  tense  was  the  feeling  of  battle,  so  eager  the  spirit 
of  conflict,  that  when  he  uttered  the  prophetic  words,  a 
secret  feeling  of  disappointment  that  such  occasions  were 
passing  seized  upon  the  hearts  of  many  of  his  hearers, 
in  spite  of  the  applause  which  greeted  the  declaration. 

Shortly  before  Mr.  Lenroot  began  his  speech  M.  B. 
Rosenberry  of  Wausau,  a  stalwart  member  of  the  state 
central  committee,  took  a  seat  on  the  stage  just  behind 
Mr.  Lenroot.  Immediately  three  husky  young  guards  of 

23 


,'*54  LAFOLLETTE  \S     WINNING     OF     WISCONSIN 

the  convention  took  seats  about  Mr.  Rosenberry,  prac 
tically  surrounding  him.  The  significance  of  this  latter 
movement  was  perhaps  not  grasped  by  the  great  assem 
blage,  but  it  was  a  precaution  taken  by  the  administra 
tion  managers  to  forestall  what  was  believed  to  be  a  plot 
to  take  over  the  machinery  of  the  convention  by  force. 
In  other  words,  it  was  believed  that  the  closing  of  Mr. 
Lenroot 's  speech  was  to  be  the  signal  for  Mr.  Rosenberry 
to  step  forward,  take  the  gavel  from  Mr.  Lenroot  by 
-force  and  precipitate  a  riot  at  once.  If  such  were  the 
scheme  it  was  quickly  nipped,  for  scarcely  had  Mr.  Rosen- 
berry  risen  to  his  feet  before  he  was  forced  back  into 
his  chair  by  the  guards  about  him.  Only  when  he  finally 
announced  that  his  purpose  was  simply  to  ask  the  sub 
stitution  of  the  minority  report  for  the  majority  was  he 
permitted,  at  the  suggestion  of  General  Bryant,  to  come 
forward. 

The  stalwart  view  of  this  episode  and  the  explanation 
of  Mr.  Rosenberry 's  action  are  given  in  Mr.  Philipp's 
history  as  follows : 

Before  the  convention  was  organized  M.  B.  Rosenberry,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  minority  of  the  state  central  committee,  made  a  request 
of  the  chairman,  General  Bryant,  that  he,  Rosenberry,  be  recog 
nized  by  the  temporary  chairman  of  the  convention  for  the  pur 
pose  of  presenting  a  minority  report  of  the  state  central  committee, 
signed  by  six  members.  He  was  told  to  make  arrangements  with 
Mr.  Lenroot,  who  was  to  be  temporary  chairman,  which  he  did, 
and  was  given  a  promise  that  he  would  be  recognized  immediately 
after  the  close  of  the  temporary  chairman's  address.  Mr.  Rosen- 
berry  took  a  seat  on  the  platform  eight  or  ten  feet  to  the  left  of, 
and  behind  the  stand  at  which  Mr.  Lenroot  stood  when  he  ad 
dressed  the  convention.  As  he  sat  down  he  was  surrounded  by  three 
persons,  strangers  to  him,  each  a  noteworthy  example  of  physical 
prowess  and  each  wearing  a  badge  that  indicated  that  he  was  an 
assistant  to  the  sergeant-at-arms.  These  three  men  refused  to  allow 
Mr.  Rosenberry  to  move  or  change  his  position  at  any  time,  but 
forcibly  held  him  in  his  seat  until  Mr.  Lenroot  had  finished  his 
address.  At  the  appointed  time  Mr.  Rosenberry  arose  to  his  feet, 
with  his  guards  still  clustered  about  him,  although  he  had  ex- 


GYMNASIUM  CONVENTION  355 

plained  to  them  who  he  was  and  that  he  had  the  consent  of  Gen 
eral  Bryant  and  Mr.  Lenroot  to  his  presence.  In  spite  of  this 
explanation,  and  although  Mr.  Rosenberry  had  several  times  re 
quested  his  guards  to  cease  interfering  with  his  freedom,  they 
persisted  in  their  surveillance  over  his  acts. 

It  may  be  added  that  when  Mr.  Kosenberry  had  completed  the 
reading  of  his  report  and  attempted  to  move  that  it  be  substituted 
for  the  majority  report,  he  was  seized  by  his  guards  and  forced 
into  his  chair.  Mr.  Rosenberry  presented  the  minority  report  of 
the  committee  which  he  read. 

In  its  official  call  for  the  convention  the  state  central 
committee  had  requested  that  all  delegates  have  their  cre 
dentials  signed  by  the  chairmen  and  secretaries  of  their 
respective  counties,  without  specifying  that  they  be  also 
signed  by  the  chairmen  and  secretaries  of  the  conventions 
electing  them.  Later  in  the  course  of  the  controversy 
the  majority  of  the  committee  explained  that  it  had  as 
sumed  as  a  matter  of  course  that  the  credentials  would 
be  signed  by  the  chairmen  and  secretaries  of  the  conven 
tions,  and  also  that  no  credentials  were  to  be  regarded 
as  too  sacred  to  go  behind  if  necessary. 

Nevertheless  the  minority  determined  that  its  policy 
should  be  to  insist  on  the  seating  of  all  delegates  bearing 
credentials  signed  by  the  officers  of  the  county  commit 
tees  regardless  of  any  other  signatures. 

The  minority  report  stated  in  part: 

We  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  duty  of  the  committee  in  making 
up  the  temporary  roll  for  the  state  convention  is  limited  to  placing 
upon  said  roll  all  delegates  who  have  been  certified  by  the  chairman 
and  secretary  of  the  respective  county  committees.  .  .  .  That 
the  committee  in  the  exercise  of  its  functions  as  a  committee  upon 
credentials  to  hear  contests  has  no  power  except  to  ascertain  the 
facts  and  report  the  same,  with  its  conclusions  thereon,  to  the 
convention  for  its  action.  .  .  .  That  the  act  of  the  committee, 
as  set  out  in  its  report  whereby  it  attempts  to  determine  contests 
and  deprive  duly  accredited  delegates  of  their  right  to  a  seat  in 
the  convention,  usurps  the  power  of  the  convention  itself,  and 
deprives  it  of  its  right  to  determine  the  qualifications  of  its  own 
members. 


356  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

The  report  was  further  interesting  from  the  fact 
that  its  signers  who  but  a  few  hours  before  had  unani 
mously  agreed  to  the  seating  of  the  LaFollette  delegates 
from  the  first  districts  in  Eau  Claire  and  Grant  counties 
now  reversed  themselves  and  declared  for  the  stalwart 
delegates  from  these  districts. 

Mr.  Rosenberry  was  not  permitted  to  enter  upon  a 
debate  and  L.  II.  Bancroft  moved  the  adoption  of  the 
majority  report.  Mr.  Rosenberry  moved  to  substitute 
the  minority  report,  but  was  declared  out  of  order.  A 
wrangle  followed  over  this  ruling  and  the  chair  appealed 
to  A.  R.  Hall,  who  was  present  as  a  delegate. 

"I  think  the  chair  is  wrong  in  its  ruling,"  said  Mr. 
Hall ;  "it  is  proper  to  consider  the  minority  report  first.'7 

Mr.  Rosenberry  then  took  the  floor  in  support  of  his 
motion  and  attacked  the  action  of  the  state  central  com 
mittee  as  arbitrary  and  unfair.  Judge  Bancroft  fol 
lowed  with  a  fiery  reply.  "  There  never  was  a  time  in 
Wisconsin,"  he  said,  "when  the  majority  report  of  the 
convention's  regularly  constituted  committee  on  creden 
tials  was  voted  down.  And  it  won't  be  today!"  An 
equally  fiery  rejoinder  came  from  Mr.  Jeffris. 

"I  ask  you  LaFollette  delegates,"  he  shouted,  "by 
what  authority  the  gentleman  from  Richland  knows  how 
you  are  going  to  vote?" 

Hisses  and  groans  greeted  the  speaker,  whereupon 
E.  R.  Hicks,  the  Cook  leader,  made  a  long  and  fervent 
plea  for  party  peace. 

"Oh,  my  friends  in  this  party,"  he  said,  "1  believe  it 
is  not  too  late  to  save  ourselves.  The  handwriting — yes, 
it  is  upon  the  wall.  Today  your  kingdom  is  divided  and 
your  scepter  will  go  to  another  if  you  do  this  thing. ' ' 

In  conclusion  Mr.  Hicks  moved,  "that  those  persons 
be  entitled  to  vote  upon  this  question  who  hold  certifi 
cates  of  election  to  this  convention  signed  by  the  chair 
man  and  secretary  of  the  county  committees  as  the  law 


GYMNASIUM  CONVENTION 


357 


JUDICIAL  CIRCUITS  OF  WISCONSIN 

Showing  the  Population  of  the  State 

by  Counties — Census  of  1900 

Total  Population  2,069,042 


Republican   caucus  map   1904,   dark  counties  carried  by   Stal 
warts,  as  seated  by  state  central  committee  and  on  first  test  vote 


358  LAFOLLETTE  Js   WINNING   OF  WISCONSIN 

requires  and  that  this  convention  herewith  have  sub 
mitted  to  it  in  detail  every  controverted  judgment  upon 
what  shall  be  done  without  the  vote  of  anybody  inter 
ested." 

Mr.  Bancroft  made  the  point  of  order  against  the 
Hicks  motion  and  was  sustained  by  the  chair,  who  quoted 
a  like  ruling  by  McKinley  at  the  republican  national 
convention  in  1892,  whereupon  Hicks  appealed  from  the 
chair  and  brought  on  the  first  test  vote. 

After  some  preliminary  skirmishing  and  an  attempt 
by  Mr.  Jeffris  to  have  the  whole  matter  re-referred  to 
the  state  central  committee  the  previous  question  was 
finally  ordered  on  the  sustaining  of  the  chair. 

Amid  breathless  silence  the  roll  proceeded.  The  first 
crucial  test  had  come  and  while  all  realized  that  the  ad 
ministration  had  seated  a  majority  of  delegates  the  ques 
tion  arose  in  the  minds  of  many  whether  under  the  fierce 
passions  aroused  and  the  determined  onslaughts  of  the 
stalwarts  all  would  stand  firm.  Were  the  chair  to  be 
overruled  it  were  difficult  to  imagine  the  extent  to  which 
things  might  go.  Hundreds  of  pencils  at  the  press  table 
and  throughout  the  building  became  immediately  busy 
keeping  a  tally  of  the  vote.  Before  the  roll  was  ended  a 
mighty  wave  of  applause  burst  over  the  hall  and  con 
tinued  for  several  minutes.  The  chair  had  been  sus 
tained.  The  administration  had  won  in  the  first  test 
and  realizing  the  moral  value  of  such  victory  its  repre 
sentatives  were  jubilant. 

The  vote  resulted,  ayes,  574  5-6 ;  noes,  485  1-6.  Then 
after  overruling  obstructive  motions  made  by  T.  W. 
Spence  and  General  F.  C.  Winkler  of  Milwaukee,  the 
chair  put  the  question  of  the  substitution  of  the  minority 
report  for  the  majority  so  far  as  related  to  Ashland 
county.  The  motion  failed,  485  1-6  to  562  5-6.  Evi 
dently  the  administration  was  to  have  a  substantial  ma 
jority  throughout  the  proceedings. 


GYMXASIUM  CONVENTION  359 

Then  one  by  one  the  other  contested  counties  were 
similarly  disposed  of,  Dodge,  Eau  Claire,  Grant,  Oconto 
and  St.  Croix,  and  after  the  minority  had  been  voted 
down  upon  all  of  them  the  process  was  reversed  and  the 
majority  report  upon  each  adopted.  At  each  ballot  Mr. 
Jeffris  or  some  other  stalwart  delegate  wrould  arise  and 
formally  protest  against  counting  the  votes  of  delegates 
who  had  been  protested  (by  the  stalwarts),  but  the  steam 
roller  went  remorselessly  on  to  the  end. 

The  last  contested  delegation  seated,  George  B.  Hud- 
nail  of  Superior  moved  that  the  temporary  organization 
be  made  permanent.  It  was  now  5:45  o'clock,  although 
under  the  great  excitement  of  the  occasion  many  dele 
gates  had  utterly  forgotten  the  flight  of  time  and  con 
fessed  afterwards  that  temporarily  they  had  imagined  it 
was  still  morning  as  many  of  them  had  eaten  nothing 
since  breakfast.  The  time  for  the  threatened  bolt  had 
arrived;  to  have  participated  further  would  have 
amounted  practically  to  a  concession  of  the  regularity  of 
the  proceedings. 

Accordingly  before  the  roll  call  was  ordered  Mr.  Jeffris 
jumped  from  his  seat  and  shouted :  "  I  ask  the  privilege 
of  announcing  that  all  anti-third-term  delegates  in  this 
convention  are  requested  to  meet  in  caucus  at  the  Fuller 
opera  house  at  8  o'clock  tonight!"  A  tremendous  up 
roar  followed  this  announcement,  with  great  cheering  by 
Baensch  delegates  and  hisses  and  groans  from  the  La- 
Follette  supporters.  The  Cook  men  sat  stolidly  in  their 
seats.  Secretary  Marsh  began  calling  the  roll.  Led  by 
Mr.  Jeffris,  the  Baensch  delegates  then  began  leaving 
the  hall,  Mr.  Jeffris'  parting  shot  as  he  passed  out  of  the 
door  being.  '  *  I  protest  that  this  convention  is  not  legally 
organized." 

"W.  C.  Cowling  of  Oshkosh  also  arose  and  declared  that 
it  was  the  wish  of  Senators  Spooner  and  Quarles  that 
their  names  be  not  presented  to  this  convention  "for 


360  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   or   WISCONSIN 

delegates  to  the  republican  national  convention. ' '  Shouts 
of  " Don't  Worry!"  and  "No  Danger!"  greeted  this  an 
nouncement. 

The  Cook  delegates  remained  in  their  seats,  apparently 
awaiting  the  word  of  their  leader,  Mr.  Hicks.  Obtain 
ing  the  floor  while  the  bolt  was  in  progress  Hicks  made 
a  long  and  fervent  plea  for  cooler  counsel  and  harmony. 
"Oh,  my  countrymen!"  he  s^id,  "we  cannot  lightly  do 
this  thing.  *  .*  *  If  we  must  do  it  let  the  undoing 
of  republicanism  come  from  without  and  not  from 
within." 

Hicks  also  deplored  the  bolt,  saying  amid  cheers : 
My  friends,  I  speak  with  no  other  design  or  purpose  than  to 
simply  justify  myself  and  the  men  who  believe  with  me  in  this 
convention,  and  the  candidate  whose  interest  we  espouse  and  here 
declare  to  be  paramount  to  all  factions.  I  am  here  to  say  to  you 
that  no  other  convention,  no  other  place,  no  other  aggregation  of 
so-called  representatives  of  the  republican  party  demands,  nor  will 
receive,  the  approval  or  co-operation  o^  that  portion  of  this  con 
vention  which  is  here  in  the  interest  of  republicanism  today. 
.  I  wish  here  and  now,  and  I  must  ask  your  indulgence 
for  a  moment — here  and  now.  I  wish  to  say  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Cook 
and  the  delegation  in  this  convention,  that  if  this  motion  prevails 
we  believe  that  it  is  actuated  by  and  consummated  through  a 
greater  desire  for  the  perpetuity  of  factionalism  than  the  ex 
altation  of  republicanism,  and  that  a  convention  so  organized  is 
not  a  fair  representation  as  it  comes  from  the  hands  of  the  people, 
and  while  we  will  not  bolt,  we  will  be  true,  we  are  not — I  am 
speaking  for  this  handful  in  this  convention — we  are  not  political 
hypocrites. 

Mr.  Hicks  also  fought  for  time  by  moving  a  recess 
until  evening  and  later  until  the  next  morning,  but  failed 
and  Mr.  Hudnall  pressed  his  motion  on  permanent  or 
ganization. 

This  failure  of  the  Cook  delegates  to  leave  the  hall 
showed  the  lack  of  a  complete  understanding  between 
the  allies  and  was  the  big  tactical  blunder  of  the  stal 
warts. 

By  remaining  to  vote  they  thus  helped  to  permanently 


GYMNASIUM  CONVENTION  361 

organize  the  convention  by  a  vote  so  great  as  to  put  its 
regularity  beyond  any  question.  No  other  convention 
could  now  be  held  without  adjournment  by  a  majority 
vote  from  the  gymnasium  to  some  other  place,  a  fact 
privately  admitted  by  the  stalwart  attorneys  in  the  litiga 
tion  following.  To  a  convention,  as  to  a  court,  four 
things  are  essential,  time  and  place,  delegates  and  officers. 
All  these  qualifications  the  gymnasium  convention  had 
obtained  through  regular  channels.  Thus  by  remaining 
and  voting  on  the  question  of  organization,  and  then 
finally  joining  forces  with  the  original  seceders,  the  Cook 
men  became  greater  bolters  than  the  more  consistent 
Jeffris  following.  After  the  bolt  the  vote  on  permanent 
organization  stood  574  5-6  to  129  2-3,  the  latter  figure 
representing  the  Cook  strength. 

On  motion  of  H.  W.  Chynoweth  of  Madison,  the  chair 
then  appointed  the  committee  on  resolutions  which  was 
headed  by  Mr.  Chynoweth.  Four  stalwarts,  including 
Charles  F.  Pfister  of  Milwaukee,  were  included  in  this 
committee,  but  took  no  part  in  its  proceedings. 

Then  came  up  the  question  of  adjournment  for  the 
day.  Not  a  few  delegates  favored  remaining  in  the  hall 
all  night  lest  the  seceders,  like  some  Latin  American 
revolutionary  army,  return  under  cover  of  darkness  and 
capture  the  building.  Mr.  Bancroft  was  among  those 
fearing  such  ruse.  However,  Mr.  Chynoweth  believed 
that  with  a  small  force  left  on  guard  the  hall  would  be 
safe  and  moved  adjournment  until  the  next  morning 
that  the  committee  on  resolutions  might  have  time  to 
complete  its  work.  The  motion  prevailed  and  an  event 
ful  day  in  "Wisconsin's  political  history  closed  at  this 
point,  as  far  as  this  particular  convention  was  concerned. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

The  Opera  House  Convention. 

FLOOR  LEADER  JEFFRIS  AGAIN  ATTACKS  ADMINISTRATION— CON 
VENTION  OPENS  AMID  GREAT  ENTHUSIASM— BAENSCH  WITHDRAWS 
AND  COOK  PLACED  IN  NOMINATION— " BIG  GUNS"  OF  PARTY  HEARD 
— OVATION  FOR  SPOONER. 

\VHEN  the  stalwart  4< caucus"  opened  at  9  o'clock 
that  evening  the  opera  house  was  jammed  to  the  doors 
with  an  expectant  throng.  Amid  a  tumult  of  applause 
General  F.  C.  Winkler  of  Milwaukee  called  the  meeting 
to  order  and  appropriately  nominated  for  chairman  Mr. 
Jeffris,  the  stalwart  floor  leader  at  the  gymnasium  con 
vention.  In  accepting  the  chairmanship  Mr.  Jeffris  fired 
his  hearers  to  continued  enthusiasm  with  a  speech  similar 
to  the  one  he  had  made  the  night  before  from  the  same 
platform. 

For  instance,  on  the  subject  of  game  wardens,  he  said : 
"We  believe  game  laws  should  be  administered  for  the 
protection  of  wild  game  and  not  the  shooting  .down  of 
tame  citizens."  Col.  William  J.  Anderson  was  made 
secretary  of  the  convention  and  with  the  naming  of 
committees  on  credentials  and  resolutions  adjournment 
was  taken  until  9  o'clock  next  morning,  while  a  list  of 
delegates  was  made  up  in  various  irregular  ways,  in 
cluding  the  drafting  of  distant  visitors  to  the  city. 

Next  day  the  convention  proper  opened.  The  morning 
was  spent  in  an  extended  presentation  of  the  administra 
tion's  "caucus  steals,"  Spencer  Haven  of  St.  Croix 
county,  and  others  being  heard.  Each  speaker  detailed 
the  proceedings  in  his  particular  locality  and  justified  the 
stalwart  course  pursued.  This  relieved  Chairman  Jef 
fris,  whose  voice  appeared  to  be  completely  gone  after  his 


THE  OPERA  HOUSE  CONVENTION  363 

efforts  of  the  two  previous  evenings.     Then  came  the 
afternoon  session. 

With  a  brigade  of  the  "big  guns"  of  the  party  present 
to  stir  the  assemblage  to  the  highest  pitch  of  enthusiasm, 
this  afternoon  meeting  satisfied  all  the  orthodox  require 
ments  of  the  old-fashioned  republican  state  conventions. 
And  indeed  it  was  a  most  remarkable  gathering.  With 
the  two  United  States  senators  present,  two  former  gov 
ernors  of  the  state,  several  members  of  congress  and 
many  former  and  present  members  of  the  legislature  and 
state  officers,  well  might  the  shades  of  the  departed 
fathers  have  wondered  how  there  could  be  another  repub 
lican  party  in  the  state.  A  militant  enthusiastic  spirit 
marked  the  meeting  from  the  beginning.  ''The  chair 
has  been  Informed,"  remarked  Chairman  Jeffris,  "that 
there  is  a  bolting  convention  in  session  somewhere  in  the 
state,  but  this  convention  has  nothing  to  do  with  it." 

Interesting  situations  came  on  apace,  the  first  being 
caused  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  Judge  Baensch  on 
the  stage  in  withdrawal  of  his  candidacy  for  the  nomina 
tion  for  governor.  The  action  of  the  Cook  delegates  in 
not  promptly  leaving  the  gymnasium  at  the  word  of  Mr. 
Jeffris,  the  leader,  the  afternoon  before  had  threatened 
somewhat  the  harmony  of  the  allies,  without  which  there 
could  be  no  hope,  and  Baensch  had  quickly  shown  the 
white  feather.  In  order  to  win  the  Cook  delegation  to 
the  bolt,  which  was  absolutely  necessary  for  appearances 
now,  if  nothing  more,  the  Baensch  leaders  had  been  com 
pelled  the  evening  before  to  withdraw  their  candidate 
and  promise  the  nomination  to  Cook.  On  this  condition 
alone  would  the  Cook  men  come  over. 

"Sorrowfully,  but  dutifully,"  said  Baensch,  "in  the 
interests  of  harmony ;  in  the  interests  of  strength,  I  re 
lease  the  delegates  that  have  been  instructed  for  me  and 
promise  my  loyal  support  to  the  nominee  of  this  conven 
tion.  '' 


364  LAFOLLETTE 'S    WINNING    OF    WISCONSIN 

Then  Mr.  Hicks  stepped  forward,  smiling  radiantly 
"Cook!"  he  began   (Applause). 

"S.  A.  Cook!"  he  continued.     (More  applause.) 

"Governor  S.  A.  Cook  of  the  state  of  Wisconsin!" 
(Great  applause.) 

Cook  was  nominated  by  acclamation,  brought  before 
the  convention,  introduced  by  Mr.  Hicks  as  the  next  gov 
ernor  of  Wisconsin,  and  made  a  very  short  and  con 
ventional  speech  of  acceptance  devoid  of  any  fire  what 
ever. 

In  the  meantime  the  platform  had  been  reported  by 
General  Winkler.  This  declaration  was  an  interesting 
study  in  connection  with  the  more  defiant  pronouncement 
issued  at  the  gymnasium.  After  devoting  five  planks  to 
national  subjects  and  declaring  that  corporations  were 
creatures  of  the  state  and  subject  to  regulation  it  had 
this  to  say  of  the  issues  of  the  hour  : 

All  legislative  regulation  of  public  service  corporations  should 
be  characterized  by  a  spirit  of  justice  to  the  people  on  the  one 
hand  and  to  the  great  interests  which  these  corporations  represent 
on  the  other.  It  is  oftentimes  a  problem  of  difficulty  to  make  that 
fair  adjustment  which  justice  requires. 

We  favor  the  enactment  of  a  law  creating  a  railway  commission 
of  not  more  than  three  members  to  be  elected  at  the  spring  elec 
tion  with  full  powers  to  investigate  conditions,  to  originate  actions 
(either  upon  complaint  or  its  own  initiative)  and  to  enforce  (in 
the  courts  and  by  such  other  means  as  may  be  provided  by  law) 
a  strict  observance  of  legal  restrictions  upon  the  exercise  of  cor 
porate  power. 

The  last  legislature  enacted  and  submitted  to  the  people  to  be 
voted  upon  at  the  general  election  a  proposed  primary  election  law. 
This  law  proposes  a  radical  change  in  the  nomination  procedure  of 
all  parties  and  affects  every  elector  in  the  exercise  of  one  of  his 
functions,  and  we  approve  of  the  action  of  the  republican  senate 
in  declining  to  put  into  immediate'  operation  by  a  majority  vote 
of  one  party  such  a  law,  without  first  giving  an  opportunity  to 
all  the  voters  of  the  state,  each  voter  upon  his  own  responsibility 
and  conscience,  to  pass  upon  it  at  the  polls.  It  has  passed  the 
platform  stage.  If  it  shall  not  be  the  will  of  the  people  to  do 
away  with  all  the  conventions  in  the  future  we  favor  the  enactment 


THE  OPERA  HOUSE  CONVENTION  365 

of  such  legislation  as  shall  provide  specifically  for  the  election  and 
accrediting  of  delegates  and  the  legal  effect  which  shall  be  given 
to  credentials  duly  executed,  to  the  end  that  it  shall  be  impossible 
for  any  power  but  the  convention  itself  to  overrule  the  prima  facie 
title  of  delegates  and  turn  preliminarily  a  majority  into  a  minor 
ity. 

The  climax  of  enthusiasm  came  when  C.  C.  Rogers  ap 
peared  upon  the  platform  escorting  Senators  Spooner 
and  Quarles  and  former  Governors  Upham  and  Scofield. 
With  one  wild  shout  the  delegates  rose  to  their  feet  in  a 
prolonged  demonstration,  with  yells  of  "Spooner!" 
"Spooner!"  rising  above  the  din.  The  demonstration 
was  repeated  again  and  again  as  one  after  another  of 
the  giants  present,  Spooner,  Quarles,  Scofield,  Upham, 
Congressmen  Babcock,  Minor  and  Barney,  State  Senator 
John  M.  Whitehead  and  others  stepped  forward  and 
gave  their  endorsement  to  the  party  secession  and 
pledged  their  support  of  the  movement.  It  was  a  "war 
meeting ' '  rather  than  a  political  love  feast,  a  crossing  of 
the  Rubicon  which  left  no  hope  of  settling  the  issues  be 
tween  the  two  rival  forces  save  a  supreme  test  of  strength. 

The  speech  of  Senator  Spooner  was  interesting  from 
the  fact  that  in  part  it  might  well  have  been  mistaken  in 
the  reading  for  a  LaFollette  address.  ' '  This  work, ' '  he 
said,  "has  just  begun.  Remember  you  are  fighting  for 
principle.  Tell  your  constituents  what  is  involved  in 
it ;  tell  them  that  you  are  fighting  for  the  dearest  popular 
birthright  of  the  people,  the  opportunity  to  be  heard  in 
the  conduct  of  their  own  business.  *  *  *  Gentlemen, 
this  convention  is  not  inspired  by  the  personal  ambition 
of  anyone  in  it  (Great  applause).  It  is  not  inspired  by 
a  struggle  for  power  (Applause).  It  is  inspired  by 
loyalty  to  representative  government  (Great  applause)." 
Continuing  he  said: 

' '  Men  sometimes  of  late  years  have  repudiated  the  idea 
that  we  have  had  for  the  last  forty  years  in  Wisconsin 
representative  government  (Laughter)  ;  that  we  have 


;:66 


LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 


had,  they  suggest,  government  by  corporations.  False 
as  it  all  is,  it  is  so  monumental  in  its  impudence  as  to 
be  absolutely  bewildering.  There  is  one  thing  the  people 
will  not  have,  and  that  is,  government  by  committee. 
(Applause.) " 

With  the  completion  of  the  state  ticket  at  another 
crowded  evening  session  and  a  final  speech  by  Chairman 
Jeffris,  the  convention  was  over  and  the  members  went 
forth  to  prosecute  the  war  to  which  they  had  now  irrev 
ocably  committed  themselves.  The  struggle  was  on  and 
apparently  to  a  finish. 

Late  that  night  a  tall  gentleman  under  great  mental 
stress  as  a  result  of  the  excitement  of  the  hour  paused 
in  a  bewildered  way  in  the  middle  of  the  street.  Hailing 
a  passing  messenger  boy  he  offered  him  a  dime  to  direct 
him  to  the  Avenue  hotel,  but  a  half  block  or  more  around 
the  corner.  It  was  S.  A.  Cook,-  the  man  who  had  just 
been  named  for  governor. 


House    in    which    LaFollette    was    born, 
Primrose,    Wis. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
Gymnasium  Convention  Concluded. 

LAFOLLETTE  AND  OTHER  STATE  OFFICERS  RENOMINATED INTER 
ESTING  INCIDENT  IN  CONNECTION  WITH  GOVERNOR'S  ACCEPT 
ANCE — AGGRESSIVE  CAMPAIGN  URGED — OBSERVATIONS  ON  DEFEC 
TIONS  FROM  LAFOLLETTE. 

A  SPIRIT  of  grim  determination  marked  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  gymnasium  convention  the  second  morning. 
The  great  hall  was  crowded.  Confirmed  in  fealty  to 
their  cause  by  the  extraordinary  turn  of  affairs,  the  dele 
gates  were  in  aggressive  mood. 

The  platform  as  reported  by  Chairman  Chynoweth  was 
adopted  with  ringing  cheers,  following  which  Governor 
LaFollette  was  placed  in  nomination  in  a  masterly  and 
eulogistic  speech  by  James  A.  Frear  of  Hudson.  A  dozen 
orators,  one  after  the  other,  rose  upon  their  chairs  and 
vied  in  tributory  seconding  speeches.  The  governor  was 
unanimously  renominated  and  brought  before  the  con 
vention  by  a  committee  headed  by  W.  D.  Connor  of 
Marshfield,  the  other  state  officers  being  in  the  meantime 
also  renominated  on  one  motion. 

The  ovation  accorded  the  governor  by  the  great  gather 
ing  was  one  long  to  be  remembered  by  all  present  as  was 
the  powerful  and  impressive  speech  of  acceptance  that 
followed. 

An  incident  in  connection  with  this  speech  which 
might  have  escaped  the  notice  of  the  casual  observer, 
but  which  forms  an  interesting  subject  of  psychological 
speculation  occurred  at  the  beginning. 

It  was  a  most  solemn  moment.  A  powerful  element  of 
the  convention  had  seceded  and  with  its  going  went  the 
excitement  of  battle  that  had  keyed  up  the  great  gather 
ing.  A  Reeling  of  sober  reaction  had  set  in ;  many  trein- 


368  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF   WISCONSIN 

bled  at  the  thought  of  the  possible  consequences.  It 
might  lead  to  the  disruption  and  defeat  of  the  party  in 
the  state,  to  violence,  even  to  assassination  and  the  dis 
credit  of  the  commonwealth.  The  state  officers  had  been 
renominated  without  opposition,  but  in  spite  of  the  en 
thusiastic  demonstrations  of  approval  at  this  consumma 
tion  there  was  an  undertow  of  depression  in  the  assem 
blage.  Then  the  governor  was  brought  in  by  the  com 
mittee  and  after  the  thunderous  ovation  accorded  him 
had  subsided,  he  said: 

"Mr.  Chairman — Gentlemen  of  the  Convention,  Fel 
low  Citizens,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  am  informed 
officially  by  your  committee  that  you,  the  representatives 
of  the  republican  party  in  Wisconsin  (applause),  have 
nominated  me  as  your  candidate  for  governor  of  the 
state. " 

Then  with  a  voice  exquisitely  cadenced  and  hypnotic 
with  triumphant  hope  he  slowly  said:  "I  accept  the 
nomination. ' ' 

The  magic  utterance  of  the  words  touched  a  chord  in 
every  heart.  Their  tone  betrayed  a  full  consciousness 
of  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  an  appreciation  of  what 
lay  ahead ;  but  there  was  a  clarion  note  of  hope  in  them, 
of  challenge ;  an  acceptance  of  the  gage  of  battle ;  not  a 
fierce  and*  imbecile  welcome  of  conflict,  but  a  brave, 
serene,  eager  going  forth.  The  great  gathering  felt  its 
heavy  load  of  doubts  and  fears,  its  perplexities  and  mis 
givings,  suddenly  lifted  from  its  shoulders  and  willingly 
transferred  by  the  leader,  A  j  ax-like,  to  his  own.  By 
this  very  implied  assumption  of  all  responsibility  for  past 
trials  and  for  ultimate  success,  he  became  ten  times  the 
more  leader  and  idol,  and  a  roar  of  applause,  thunderous 
and  long-continued,  went  up,  making  the  great  girders  of 
the  gymnasium  vibrate  to  their  farthest  limit.  These 
four  brief  words,  so  often  the  vapid  commonplaces  of 
dull  men  when  named  for  office,  he  charged  with  the  glow 


GYMNASIUM  CONVENTION  CONCLUDED  369 

of  genius;  they  flashed  of  inspiration;  vibrant,  electric, 
they  opened  to  the  most  sodden  soul  present,  vistas  of 
hope  and  shining  fields  of  triumph.  They  breathed  of  a 
faith  in  the  rectitude  and  ultimate  triumph  of  the  cause 
that  by  its  very  strength  must  perforce  prevail.  Impres 
sive  and  convincing  as  were  the  words  that  followed,  to 
his  hearers  the  battle  had  been  already  won  with  his 
second  sentence. 

In  concluding  this  speech  Governor  LaFollette  said, 
according  to  a  press  report: 

We  must  fight  this  out  in  Wisconsin  now  and  here.  (Applause.) 
Blind  indeed  the  man  who  does  not  see,  dull  indeed  the  brain  that 
does  not  comprehend,  that  the  ballot  is  given  on  the  faith  of  plat 
form  pledges,  and  that  redeeming  party  pledges,  keeping  faith 
with  the  citizen,  the  representative  in  honor  representing  the  voter, 
is  the  only  means  of  preserving  government  by  the  people.  Think 
of  the  struggle  to  secure  just  and  equal  taxation  and  nominations 
by  direct  vote  of  the  people !  Kemember  the  broken  promises,  the 
violation  of  platform  pledges,  the  boasting  and  defiance  of  the 
railroad  lobby!  Say  what  you  will,  representative  government  is 
on  trial  for  its  life  in  Wisconsin.  If  there  be  some  citizens  in 
this  state  whom  passion  and  prejudice  have  so  blinded  that  they 
do  not  see  this  clearly  defined  issue,  it  is  not  so  outside  of  Wiscon 
sin.  Wherever  you  go  in  this  country  it  is  well  understood  that 
the  issue  in  Wisconsin  is  the  preservation  of  government  by  the 
people  and  for  the  people.  (Applause.) 

Whoever  leads  in  such  a  movement,  whatever  band  of  men 
stand  together  bearing  aloft  the  banners  of  the  party,  making  this 
contest — one  and  all — they  must  expect  to  face  violent  misrepre 
sentation  and  personal  abuse  of  every  conceivable  character.  That 
comes  as  a  part  of  the  sacrifice  that  must  be  made  for  the  cause. 
But  those  who  have  borne  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  battle  in  Wis 
consin  for  eight  years  are  veterans  now.  (Great  applause.)  They 
do  not  shirk  from  the  combat.  They  do  not  hesitate  to  fa.ce  the 
fire.  (Applause.)  They  will  not  retreat  nor  lie  down.  (Applause 
and  cheers.)  Let  it  be  known  here  today,  and  throughout  the 
state  and  the  country,  that  an  adverse  decision  in  any  contest — 
either  in  caucuses,  in  conventions,  or  at  the  polls,  when  it  comes 
to  men  who  are  following  a  conviction  which  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  government — cannot  stop  them.  That  we  could  meet  with  defeat 
time  and  again  and  simply  grow  stronger  fighting  the  cause  of 

24 


370  LAFOLLETTK'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

the  right  was  proven  in  1896  and  in  1898.  (Great  applause.)  And 
from  1900  down  to  this  hour  when  the  issues  became  clearly  denned 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  there  has  never  been  any  question  as  to 
where  the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  republicans  of  Wisconsin 
stood.  They  have  testified  their  devotion  in  every  convention  down 
to  this  day.  (Great  applause;  cries  of  Good!  Good!) 

I  have  already  traveled  much  beyond  the  limits  of  a  speech  ac 
cepting  a  nomination  for  the  governorship,  but  I  wanted  this  con 
vention  and  the  people  of  the  state  to  know  that  this  fight  begins 
today.  (Great  cheering.)  That  from  this  hour  until  the  close 
of  the  polls  on  election  day  there  shall  be  no  halt  and  no  stop. 
(Great  applause,  cries  of  Good!  and  cheers.) 

Let  me  here  and  now  declare  to  the  convention,  and  through  you 
to  the  republican  party  of  Wisconsin,  which  you  represent,  (ap 
plause)  that  if  again  chosen  to  the  high  office  of  governor  of  this 
commonwealth,  it  shall  be  my  constant  endeavor  faithfully  to 
execute  the  will  of  the  people  and  administer  the  duties  of  that 
office  without  fear  or  favor  to  any  individual,  or  to  any  interest. 
(Prolonged  applause  and  cheering,  with  delegates  all  on  their 
feet.) 

The  night  following  this  historic  and  last  republican 
state  convention  in  Wisconsin  a  characteristic  and  mem 
orable  scene  was  enacted  in  the  governor's  office  in  the 
capitol.  From  early  evening  until  three  o  'clock  the  next 
morning  the  large  ante-room  of  the  executive  office  was 
jammed  with  an  animated,  exultant  throng,  the  militant 
young  republicanism  of  Wisconsin,  come  to  felicitate 
together  over  the  victorious  issue  of  a  great  and  trying 
battle  and  to  repay  its  devotion  to  its  beloved  leader. 
Hundreds  of  delegates  from  the  far  corners  of  the  state — 
the  outposts  of  reform — many  of  whom  were  making 
their  first  visit  to  the  capital — remained  for  the  oppor 
tunity,  so  long  anticipated,  of  at  last  meeting  and  shak 
ing  hands  with  LaFollette,  and  with  them  came  hundreds 
of  other  visitors  from  far  and  near. 

It  soon  became  impossible  for  the  governor  to  keep 
open  house.  The  clamor  and  pressure  for  conferences 
and  private  interviews  became  irresistible,  and  under  the 
exigencies  of  the  unusual  situation  then  prevailing  he 
also  felt  it  imperative  to  counsel  with  leaders  from  vari- 


GYMNASHM  CONVENTION  CONCLUDED  371 

ous  vital  points.  So  he  was  forced  into  his  private  inner 
office  and  a  corps  of  favored  lieutenants  delegated  to 
"manage  the  crowd."  Of  these  Speaker  I.  L.  Lenroot 
became  a  sort  of  chief  ambassador,  being  himself  a  popu 
lar  hero  of  the  hour  as  the  fearless  and  masterful  chair 
man  of  the  great  convention  just  closed.  Among  others 
having  entree  to  the  inner  sanctum  were  N.  P.  Haugen, 
Lieutenant  Governor  James  0.  Davidson,  State  Chair 
man  W.  D.  Connor,  John  L.  Erickson  of  Superior,  and 
J.  Crawford  Harper  of  Madison.  Their  instructions 
were  to  give  everybody  the  glad  hand,  turn  off  office- 
seekers  as  diplomatically  as  possible  and  get  everyone 
out  of  town  with  the  maximum  of  good  humor  and  en 
thusiasm  for  the  cause  possible.  And  this  serves  to  recall 
one  of  the  many  incidents  of  the  memorable  night.  Suc 
cess  had  brought  some  of  its  inevitable  results.  LaFol- 
lette  by  this  picturesque  and  dramatic  victory,  the  climax 
so  far  of  all  his  desperate  fighting,  was  now  more  than 
ever  the  great  state  figure,  and  a  dictator  with  power  to 
make  or  deny  political  futures.  Before  men  in  such 
positions  a  large  proportion  of  humanity  is  ever  ready 
to  prostrate  itself,  many  through  sheer  devotion,  others 


ADMIT     THE     BEARER 

Jo  the  GYMNASIUM  during 
the   sessions   of  the 

Republican  State  Convention 

COMMENCING  MAY  18,  1904 

(SIDE   ENTRANCE)  A  Seat  on  the  Stage  No. _AV-V- 

A.  H  KAYSER,  Script-Arms  GEO.  E.  BRYANT,  Chairman,  R.  S.  C.  C. 


Ticket  Used  at  Convention  of  1904 


.".7L'  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

for  the  satisfaction  alone  of  being  allied  with  a  winning 
cause,  still  others  with  a  thrifty  eye  to  future  possibil 
ities.  LaFollette  being  thus  in  a  position  of  bestowing 
place  and  power,  many  felt  the  wisdom  of  early  getting 
his  ear.  Some  had  come  as  delegates.  A  conference 
while  in  the  city  might  save  another,  perhaps  more  than 
one,  trip  back  to  the  capital. 

Of  this  last  named  class  was  one  delegate  of  foreign 
extraction  (not  Norwegian  nor  German),  who  had  his 
mind  set  on  an  interview  with  the  governor.  When  it 
became  doubtful  about  his  securing  this  coveted  inter 
view  he  began  "talking  out  in  meeting,"  finally  revert 
ing  to  his  readier  mother  tongue  the  better  to  do  justice 
to  his  feelings.  He  had  fought  LaFollette 's  battles  for 
ten  years,  had  sacrificed  time  and  money,  borne  the  taunts 
of  derisive  neighbors,  helped  send  LaFollette  men  up  to 
the  legislature,  etc.,  and  the  time  had  now  come  when 
some  recognition  was  due  him.  In  short,  he  wanted  a 
job.  He  must  see  the  governor.  Nor  wrould  he  be 
quieted.  Finally  one  of  the  governor's  lieutenants  suc 
ceeded  in  segregating  him  and  reasoned  with  him  in  this 
manner:  "Why  do  you  want  a  job  at  Madison,  any 
way?  Have  you  thought  out  what  it  means?  If  you 
don't  accept  office  you  will  continue  to  be  the  big  man 
at  home;  you  will  have  influence,  power  and  respect  in 
your  town.  You  will  be  looked  up  to  as  a  man  fighting 
for  the  high  motives  of  principle.  If  you  accept  an  ap 
pointment  you  will  be  set  down  as  a  self-seeker  and  your 
influence  and  respect  be  lost.  Besides  there  is  no  money 
profit  in  it.  You  will  lose  your  business  at  home  as  well 
as  your  standing,  and  on  top  of  it  all  you  will  have  no 
influence  and  get  no  recognition  here."  This  homily 
made  the  visitor  a  bit  more  thoughtful.  He  admitted 
the  advice  sounded  well,  yet  he  was  not  certain  but  that 
he  still  desired  a  political  job.  Finally  two  administra 
tion  men  escorted  him  to  his  train,  giving  him  a  treat 


374  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING  OF   WISCONSIN 

on  the  way,  and  he  parted  with  them  in  apparent  good 
humor.  However,  in  a  later  campaign  he  was  to  be 
found  fighting  the  cause  he  had  so  nobly  supported  for  a 
decade. 

It  was  one  of  the  penalties  LaPollette  had  to  suffer, 
the  loss  of  many  a  follower  who  demanded  more  material 
reward  than  the  satisfaction  derived  from  patriotic  serv 
ice  alone.  This  lesson  that  the  great  mass  of  men  must 
expect  small  recognition  for  public  service  is  one  that 
many  must  learn  in  bitterness  of  heart.  The  one  sure 
reward  must  be  that  of  satisfaction  of  conscience.  It 
is  the  sufficient  reward  of  the  patriot  and  should  be  of 
all  who  are  not  proof  against  disappointment.  A  Mas- 
sena  and  a  Ney  may  perform  heart-breaking  prodigies 
and  sacrifices,  and  suffer  the  pangs  of  humiliation,  re 
crimination  and  misunderstanding  through  a  life-time, 
only  to  see  the  chief  glory  of  all  their  toil  and  suffering 
go  to  a  favored  greater  one,  but  civilization  would  have 
made  little  progress  had  not  the  martyrs  of  history  sacri 
ficed  themselves  in  spite  of  this  eternal  recurrence  of  fact. 

As  Burns  observes,  "a  few  seem  favorites  of  fate;" 
the  very  stars  contending  for  them.  Thus,  in  this  con 
nection  and  at  this  particular  time,  a  learned  astrologer 
had  worked  out  a  formula  covering  nearly  a  full  news 
paper  page  to  show  that  it  was  writ  in  the  stars  that 
LaFollette  was  to  triumph  in  the  present  crisis  and  had 
a  great  careeer  of  success  before  him. 

As  it  would  be  an  interesting  study  to  pass  in  review 
the  scores  of  public  men  of  Wisconsin  who  have  been 
made  largely  by  the  circumstance  of  hitching  their 
chariots  to  the  LaFollette  star,  so  also  would  the 
defections  from  the  LaFollette  standard  prove  a  most 
interesting  study.  In  his  long  career  of  leadership  it 
has  been  LaFollette 's  regrettable  fortune  to  lose  many 
a  once  ardent  supporter  of  prominence.  The  causes 
of  these  defections  have  been  as  varied  as  the  apostates 


GYMNASIUM  CONVENTION  CONCLUDED 


375 


Cartoon   of   1904    Convention   Scene 


376  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

in  question  themselves.  Steadfastness  in  both  pros 
perity  and  adversity  in  the  faith  through  which  they 
acquired  place  has  been  found  irksome  to  many.  Others 
never  truly  of  the  faith,  who  enlisted  to  attain  selfish 
ends,  have  inevitably  gravitated  back  to  more  con 
genial  relations.  Many  also,  once  in  power  or  place, 
believing  themselves  strong  enough  to  stand  alone,  have 
foresworn  further  allegiance  to  their  old  leader  or 
made  war  upon  him.  Others  with  the  restless  dispo 
sition  of  the  man  who  insisted  on  shearing  a  wolf  have 
soon  found  occasion  for  quarrel  or  estrangement.  Still 
others  could  not  await  the  slow  coming  of  rewards. 
The  shoals  of  recent  Wisconsin  politics  are  strewn  with 
the  wrecks  of  such  deserters.  Murat's  loss  of  his  king 
dom  of  Naples  by  playing  fast  and  loose  with  his  old 
benefactor  before  Elba  and  Waterloo  has,  in  a  way, 
thus  had  many  parallels  in  Wisconsin  annals.  The 
sentiment  of  many  who  have  thus  weakened  in  the 
faith  was  no  doubt  well  expressed  by  one  such  when  he 
said: 

I  tell  you  I  am  tired  of  this  business  of  being  a  patriot.  There 
is  nothing  in  it.  I  give  you  warning  here  and  now  that  hereafter 
I  am  going  to  work  for  yours  truly. 

These  various  defections  have  led  to  many  erroneous 
impressions  in  the  larger  public  mind  not  particularly 
interested  nor  concerned  in  the  springs  and  causes  in 
spiring  them.  As  with  other  leaders  who  have  under 
gone  similar  experiences,  LaFollette  has  been  repeatedly 
subjected  to  the  charge  of  ingratitude,  of  jealousy,  of 
a  heartless  disposition  to  sacrifice  and  destroy  even  his 
friends  for  his  own  advancement.  Without  presuming 
to  enter  upon  any  discussion  of  these  points,  it  may  be 
observed  that  even  LaFollette 's  severest  critics  admit 
that  he  has  been  unwaveringly  true  to  his  ideals  and 
causes,  undeterred  by  defeats,  temptations  or  unpromis 
ing  prospects.  He  has  stood  by  his  principles  and  his 


ii  M  CONVENTION  CONCLUDED  377 

guns.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  others,  he  has  not 
changed;  the  alternative  conclusion  then  must  be  that 
those  supporters  who  have  since  made  cause  against 
him  must  have  themselves  changed. 

As  a  conspicuous  example  among  such  may  be  men 
tioned  former  Governor  W.  D.  Hoard.  In  view  of  the 
severe  strictures — to  use  no  harsher  term — applied  by 
Mr.  Hoard  to  his  one-time  friend  and  colleague,  the 
friends  of  the  earlier  governor  can  scarcely  complain  or 
consider  it  a  breach  of  confidence  if  LaFollette  himself 
be  quoted  in  this  connection.  Interviewed  some  years 
ago  on  the  subject  of  his  altered  relations  with  Hoard  he 
said: 

When  I  was  governor  I  always  made  a  great  deal  of  Hoard  and 
kept  him  prominently  before  the  people.  I  did  this  partly  be 
cause  I  admired  the  man  and  partly  out  of  sympathy,  because  I 
felt  his  political  career  had  been  turned  into  a  tragedy  through  the 
treachery  of  Henry  Payne  and  others.  I  often  consulted  him  and 
always  deferred  to  him  in  appointments  in  his  district.  We  al 
ways  kept  a  room  for  Hoard  at  the  executive  residence  and  he  was 
always  our  guest  while  in  the  city.  One  night  after  I  had  taken 
him  up  to  his  room  and  brought  up  the  customary  refreshment 
which  he  took  on  retiring  he  said:  "Kobert,  I'd  like  to  talk 
with  you  a  minute."  We  sat  down  and  he  continued: 

' '  I  don 't  want  Cully  Adams  disturbed  down  there  in  congress. 
I  understand  John  Nelson  is  trying  to  get  his  place  and  I  want 
you  to  call  him  off.7' 

"Well,"  I  said,  "I  don't  think  I  can,  governor.  In  the  first 
place  it  is  against  my  inclinations  to  try  to  boss  in  these  things 
and  I  don't  think  I  could,  anyway.  John  has  a  perfect  right  to 
be  ambitious.  Besides  he  is  a  good  friend  of  mine;  he  is  a  man 
of  high  character,  high  courage,  high  attainments.  He  has  been 
unwavering  in  his  loyalty  to  our  cause,  while  Adams  is  training 
with  Babcock  down  there  at  Washington.  The  only  thing  I  can 
do  is  to  keep  hands  off  and  let  things  take  their  own  course." 

Hoard  didn't  like  it,  but  was  pleasant  the  next  morning  at 
breakfast.  We  had  some  readings  and  he  told  stories  to  the 
family  for  an  hour.  But  from  that  day  there  was  a  gradual  cool 
ing  on  his  part.  I  entertained  no  resentment,  however,  for  when 
Secretary  Knox  sent  for  me  in  1909  and  told  me  President  Taft 
wanted  to  give  the  place  of  secretary  of  agriculture  to  Wisconsin 


378  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

and  asked  me  to  name  a  man  I  at  once  recommended  Hoard.  1 
told  him  of  his  high  qualifications,  his  distinguished  public  service, 
his  sterling  character,  his  nation-wide  recognition  as.  an  authority 
in  matters  of  agriculture,  his  reputation  as  a  writer  and  the  confi 
dence  the  people  would  repose  in  his  selection.  Very  well,  Hoard 
was  invited  to  join  the  cabinet,  and  I  also  wrote  him  urging  him  to 
accept.  But  Hoard  declined  on  the  ground  of  age  and  failing 
health.  I  again  wrote  him  that  the  president  said  there  was  no 
hurry  about  taking  the  place;  that  if  after  some  months  his  health 
improved  he  might  take  the  place  and  try  it  for  a  year.  I  told 
him  how  his  political  prospects  had  been  wrecked  by  treachery 
and  that  a  cabinet  term  would  be  a  nice  crowning  of  his  career. 
But  he  again  declined.  Then  Hoard  and  I  joined  in  recommend 
ing  Dr.  H.  L.  Russell,  dean  of  the  college  of  agriculture  in  the 
University  of  Wisconsin,  to  Mr.  Knox,  but  Dr.  Russell  wouldn't 
entertain  the  proposition  at  all.  However  Hoard  may  feel  toward 
me,  I  feel  kindly  toward  him,  and  think  I  have  been  more  than 
fair  and  generous  toward  him. 


HENRY  A.  HUBER 
Early   Progressive 


CHAPTER  XXV II 

Before  the  National  Convention. 

EIVAL  FACTIONS  APPEAL  TO  NATIONAL  COMMITTEE — LAFOLLETTE 
DELEGATION  VISITS  ROOSEVELT — RECEIVE  NO  ENCOURAGEMENT — 
COMMITTEE  DECIDES  FOR  STALWARTS — PREMATURE  ANNOUNCEMENT 
BY  COMMITTEE  ON  CREDENTIALS — LAFOLLETTE  DELEGATION  LEAVES 
CHICAGO — STALWARTS  SEATED — INCIDENTS  OF  SUMMER — REMOVAL 
OF  STATE  TREASURER  KEMPF — DEMOCRATS  AGAIN  ADOPT  REAC 
TIONARY  PLATFORM — PECK  FOR  GOVERNOR. 

J_  HE  state  conventions  over,  the  scene  of  battle  was 
shifted  to  Chicago,  and  a  fresh  rivalry  begun  for  recog 
nition  by  the  republican  national  convention  and  the 
consequent  prestige  such  recognition  would  bring.  In 
order  not  to  imperil  the  national  party  ticket  the  stal 
wart  convention,  at  the  suggestion  of  General  Winkler, 
had  nominated  for  presidential  electors  the  same  ticket 
the  administration  convention  had,  but  for  delegates  at 
large  to  the  national  convention  had  elected  Senators 
Spooner  and  Quarles,  Congressman  Babcock  and  Judge 
Baensch.  The  administration  delegates  were  Isaac 
Stephenson  of  Marinette,  Governor  LaFollette,  W.  D. 
Connor  of  Marshfield,  whom  the  administration  conven 
tion  had  just  elected  chairman  of  the  state  central  com 
mittee  ;  and  Senator  J.  II.  Stout  of  Menomonie.  If  the 
national  convention  would  seat  their  delegates — thus  in 
effect  recognizing  the  opera  house  meeting  as  the  regular 
state  convention — the  stalwart  leaders  held  that  the 
secretary  of  state  would  be  morally,  if  indeed  not  legally, 
bound  to  place  the  opera  house  ticket  in  the  regular 
republican  column  on  the  official  ballot  for  the  November 
election.  With  Henry  C.  Payne,  then  postmaster  gen 
eral,  a  member  of  the  national  committee  and  its  acting 
chairman,  the  stalwarts  had  every  reason  to  hope  they 


380  LA.FOLLETTE  7js    WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

would  receive  such  recognition.  The  administration,  on 
the  other  hand,  could  scarcely  hope  for  much  considera 
tion,  but  determined  to  press  its  claims. 

One  of  the  first  moves  was  to  dispatch  a  delegation  to 
Washington  to  lay  the  entire  political  situation  in  the 
state  before  President  Roosevelt  in  the  hope  that  the  dis 
tinguished  promulgator  of  "the  square  deal"  would 
exert  his  great  influence  at  the  convention  in  favor  of 
the  administration  delegates.  Senator  Spooner  had  al 
ready  called  and  urged  his  recognition  of  the  stalwart 
claims.  Largely  at  Connor's  expense,  it  is  said,  Chair 
man  Connor,  H.  P.  Myrick,  editor  of  the  Milwaukee  Free 
Press;  Speaker  I.  L.  Lenroot,  Walter  L.  Houser  of  Mon- 
dovi  and  C.  C.  Gittings  of  Racine  accordingly  went  to 
Washington  and  had  an  audience  with  the  president. 
But  the  latter  refused  to  do  anything  for  his  visitors. 
After  listening  rather  impatiently  to  their  presentation 
of  the  situation,  he  declared  that  he  could  take  no  hand 
in  any  purely  factional  controversy;  that,  in  effect,  it 
would  be  undignified  in  him  to  do  so  and  might  imperil 
party  success  in  the  state.  '  *  Go  and  see  Brooker  of  Con 
necticut  and  tell  him,"  he  said  finally.  Brooker  was  a 
member  of  the  national  committee,  of  reactionary  sym 
pathies,  so  the  delegates  saw  little  hope  in  that  direction. 
Then  a  final  appeal  was  made  to  him  to  discourage  the 
activity  of  the  federal  office-holders  who  were  busily  can 
vassing  the  state,  giving  open  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
stalwart  faction  and  lending  it  their  powerful  prestige 
as  government  representatives.  It  was  pointed  out  to 
him  that  for  years  this  condition  of  affairs  had  existed 
and  that  it  had  been  condemned  in  the  two  last  repub 
lican  state  platforms,  as  he  had  seen.  But  even  on  this 
point  no  satisfaction  could  be  obtained.  ."I  don't  see 
what  we  can  do,"  said  Connor  bitterly  on  returning  to 
the  street,  "unless  it  be  to  go  on  a  spree,  as  they  say, 
and  try  to  forget  it." 


BKFOKK  THE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  381 

It  was  generally  understood  that  the  national  admin 
istration  was  hostile  to  the  Wisconsin  movement. 
Throughout  his  long  ten  years'  struggle  for  better  things 
in  his  state  LaFollette  received  scarcely  a  word  of  en 
couragement  or  suggestion  from  Washington;  on  the 
other  hand,  Spooner,  Quarles,  Payne  and  Babcock  had 
the  close  ear  of  the  administration  and  directed  all  ap 
pointments  toward  the  building  up  of  a  powerful  state 
machine  of  active  anti-LaFollette  partisans.  In  view 
of  the  great  national  prestige  of  this  quartet  politicians 
generally  looked  for  a  decisive  turning  down  of  LaFol 
lette  by  the  national  convention  and  Walter  Wellman 
writing  authoritatively  from  Washington  further  added 
that  "the  president  regards  the  decision  to  be  made  by 
the  Chicago  convention  much  like  the  verdict  of  a  jury, 
which  no  outsider  must  tamper  with." 

A  little  further  notice  of  the  relations  between  Roose 
velt  and  LaFollette  at  this  time  may  be  of  interest. 

In  his  speech  at  Oshkosh,  and  again  at  Milwaukee,  in 
1912,  while  making  his  campaign  as  the  progressive  pres 
idential  candidate,  Colonel  Roosevelt  said: 

It  lias  been  asserted  tha't  I  did  not  take  sides  with  the  LaFol 
lette  people  in  their  campaign  in  1904.  This  is  an  error.  On 
October  16  of  that  year  I  made  my  position  clear  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Cortelyou,  chairman  of  the  national  committee,  which  ran  in 
part  as  follows: 

I  think  Babcock  and  his  people  should  be  told  that  especially 
in  view  of  the  decision  of  the  supreme  court  there  must  not  be  any 
kind  of  favoritism  shown  by  us  toward  the  "stalwarts."  Under 
the  decision  of  the  supreme  court  any  weakening  of  the  LaFollette 
ticket  is  a  weakening  of  the  national  ticket,  etc. 

Also:  Again  and  again  I  have  borne  testimony  in  speech  and 
in  writings  in  the  Outlook  to  what  Senator  LaFollette  has  accom 
plished  in  the  way  of  progressive  leadership. 

These  statements  are  interesting,  especially  as  they 
show  by  his  own  words  that^Roosevelt  did  not  come  to 
the  aid  of  LaFollette  in  1904  until  LaFollette  had  won 
his  own  fight  and  when  it  seemed  political  expediency  to 


382  LAFOLLETTE  ;S     WINNING     OF     WISCONSIN 

do  so.  In  fact  everyone  familiar  with  the  political  situa 
tion  at  the  time — no  matter  what  his  factional  bias — 
felt  that  Roosevelt  was  hostile  to  LaFollette.  That  was 
regarded  as  elementary. 

The  Cortelyou  letter — which  LaFollette  supporters  as 
serted  in  1912  had  not  been  heard  of  until  that  year- 
was  written  October  16,  1904,  about  three  weeks  before 
the  close  of  the  campaign.  On  October  5  of  that  year  the 
supreme  court  of  Wisconsin  had  handed  down  its  de 
cision  refusing  to  interfere  with  the  placing  of  the  La 
Follette  ticket  in  the  regular  republican  column  on  the 
official  ballot.  Postmaster  General  Payne  too,  by  the 
way,  had  died  the  day  before  in  Washington.  During 
the  whole  of  that  heart-breaking  factional  campaign 
Roosevelt  spoke  no  word  nor  made  any  move  to  aid  La 
Follette  until  LaFollette  had  won  his  fight  before  the 
supreme  court.  The  stalwarts  were  then  demoralized; 
even  their  candidate  for  governor  had  resigned  from  the 
ticket.  Apparently  as  if  fearful  of  the  danger  to  his 
own  ticket  in  Wisconsin,  the  president  then  wrote  the 
Cortelyou  letter. 

Roosevelt's  previous  attitude  toward  the  Wisconsin 
movement  had  been  one  of  indifference  or  hostility.  On 
April  3,  1903,  while  LaFollette  was  serving  his  second 
term  as  governor,  President  Roosevelt  visited  Madison. 
The  legislature  was  then  in  session,  and  had  been  for 
three  months.  The  legislative  session  of  that  year  was 
unparalleled  in  state  history  for  desperate  struggles  and 
fierce  rivalries.  At  the  time  of  Roosevelt's  visit  the 
three  big  LaFollette  measures,  for  primary  election,  ad 
valorem  taxation  of  railroads  and  a  railroad  rate  com 
mission,  were  all  hanging  in  the  balance.  Fierce  battles 
had  raged  over  them  for  weeks  and  the  first  two  meas 
ures  had  already  been  repeatedly  defeated  by  the  stal 
wart  opposition. 

The  stalwart  corporation  lobby  of  that  period  marked 


BEFORE  THE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION 

the  culmination  of  that  form  of  activity  in  the  history  of 
the  state.  In  numbers,  boldness  and  effrontery  it  had 
never  been  equalled.  It  outnumbered  the  legislature 
itself.  Among  the  most  active  lobbyists  in  the  early  La- 
Follette  administrations  were  federal  office-seekers,  such 
as  James  G.  Monahan  and  Henry  Fink,  revenue  col 
lectors,  and  William  G.  Wheeler,  United  States  district 
attorney.  For  weeks  and  months  they  were  active  in  the 
legislature  in  fighting  the  administration  measures,  even 
going  to  the  extent  at  times  of  dragging  members  upon 
the  floor  and  making  them  vote  against  the  LaFollette 
bills.  So  offensive  did  they  become  that  several  times 
they  had  to  be  driven  from  the  floor  by  resolutions  or  by 
direction  of  the  speaker.  Not  only  were  these  men,  in 
neglect  of  their  duties  and  in  violation  of  the  spirit,  if 
not  the  direct  letter  of  the  law,  active,  but  in  this  session 
Congressman  Babcock  was  sent  on  from  Washington  by 
Senator  Spooner — as  admitted  and  explained  at  length 
in  E.  L.  Philipp's  stalwart  history  of  the  period — to 
direct  the  fight  in  the  legislature  against  the  LaFollette 
measures. 

President  Roosevelt  was  cognizant  of  this  entire  situa 
tion  when  he  visited  Madison.  Yet  he  did  not  raise  his 
voice  in  encouragement  or  support  of  the  LaFollette 
ideas  which  he  later  professed  to  have  endorsed.  Al 
though  introduced  in  complimentary  terms  by  Governor 
LaFollette  he  dropped  no  suggestion  of  encouragement 
in  the  fight  LaFollette  was  making  for  better  conditions. 
In  a  sedate  official  this  had  not  been  surprising,  but  in 
one  like  Roosevelt  given  to  outspoken  opinions  on  all 
subjects  his  silence  at  the  time  could  scarcely  be  attrib 
uted  to  any  ethical  squeamishness. 

His  silence  at  the  time  recalled  by  contrast  the  action 
of  Colonel  Bryan  later  in  coming  voluntarily  before  the 
Wisconsin  legislature  at  a  critical  time  and  making  a 


384  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF  WISCONSIN 

powerful  plea  in  support  of  LaPollette,  thus  aiding  in 
putting  the  rate  commission  law  on  the  statute  books. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  some  of  the  Wisconsin  fed 
eral  office-holders  of  the  period.  It  was  not  alone  in  the 
naming  of  these  men,  for  public  favor,  or  of  bigger  ones 
like  Henry  C.  Payne,  Postmaster  E.  W.  Keyes  and  Judge 
Quarles,  all  bitterly  hostile  to  LaFollette,  that  the  Roose 
velt  bias  against  LaFollette  was  shown,  but  in  appoint 
ments  generally  throughout  the  state.  Among  the  most 
active  and  aggressive  fighters  of  LaFollette  and  his  ideas 
in  Madison  in  1904  were  three  young  men,  H.  H.  Morgan, 
A.  A.  Meggett  and  Raymond  R.  Frazier.  For  their  poli 
tical  activities  against  LaFollette  all  of  these  men  later 
received  fat  federal  appointments,  Morgan  being  made 
assistant  United  States  district  attorney,  Meggett  getting 
a  place  in  the  revenue  collector 's  office  and  Frazier  being 
appointed  consul  to  Copenhagen,  Denmark.  What  was 
true  of  Madison  was  true  of  other  cities  in  the  state. 
"Standing  with  the  LaFollette  people  in  1904"  appears 
to  have  been  limited  to  the  time  between  October  16  and 
November  8  of  that  year.  Then  they  were  again  aban 
doned,  as  shown  by  subsequent  appointments,  for  the 
faction  that  cast  but  12,000  votes  in  the  election. 

When  Roosevelt  was  in  Africa  and  republican  insur 
gency  began  developing  in  congress,  following  the  pas 
sage  of  the  Payne  tariff  bill,  it  was  the  open  and  confident 
assertion  of  the  stalwart  press  that  when  Roosevelt  re 
turned  he  would  "quickly  squelch  this  insurgency." 
Even  the  progressive  papers  generally  regarded  Roose 
velt  as  hostile  to  it.  "Roosevelt  has  always  been  a 
stickler  for  party,"  they  said.  It  was  a  gambler's  chance 
that  he  would  take  up  with  the  new  movement. 

Roosevelt's  first  public  endorsement  of  LaFollette 
came  in  September,  1910.  The  colonel  happened  to  be 
in  Milwaukee  the  day  after  the  phenomenal  LaFollette 
landslide  in  the  primary  election  of  that  year,  in  which 


BEFORE  THE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  385 

LaFollette  carried  every  county  and  practically  every 
legislative  district  in  the  state.  In  an  interview  by  the 
press  he  then  declared  guardedly  that,  in  view  of  the  en 
dorsement  LaFollette  had  received,  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
legislature  to  reelect  him.  LaFollette 's  fight  had  again 
been  won. 

Afterward  in  an  introduction  to  Dr.  Charles  Mc 
Carthy's  book  on  "The  Wisconsin  Idea,"  and  later  in  an 
Outlook  article  he  incidentally  mentioned  LaFollette. 
The  Wisconsin  idea  was  then  proving  popular  and  the 
colonel's  candidacy  was  imminent. 

However,  in  view  of  their  triumph  in  the  election  of 
1904  the  LaFollette  people  cherished  no  grudge  against 
President  Roosevelt.  LaFollette  later  regretted  that  the 
president's  influence  had  been  sought  before  the  national 
convention.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  can  be  safely  as 
serted  that  secretly  LaFollette  did  not  desire  the  admin 
istration's  aid  in  his  state  fight.  As  he  grew  in  strength 
he  perhaps  inwardly  rejoiced  at  the  opposition.  He 
preferred  to  win  his  fight  alone  since  by  so  doing  he 
would  reap  the  whole  glory.  It  is  the  way  of  strong  and 
resolute  characters. 

With  other  and  similar  cases  that  of  the  Wisconsin 
contest  was  first  presented  to  the  national  committee  for 
adjustment.  May  30  the  stalwart  delegates  at  large, 
through  their  attorneys,  sent  a  protest  to  the  national 
committee  against  the  seating  of  the  gymnasium  dele 
gates,  accompanying  it  with  a  statement  on  the  Wiscon 
sin  situation.  A  like  notice  was  sent  Chairman  Payne 
by  the  administration  delegates. 

The  action  of  the  national  committee  and  the  national 
convention  in  subsequently  refusing  any  recognition  to 
the  administration  delegates  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that 
the  Wisconsin  state  central  committee  by  unanimous 
vote  (which  included  six  stalwarts)  had  seated  a  clear 
majority  of  administration  delegates  in  the  state  conven- 


386  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING  OF   WISCONSIN 

tion  illustrated  well  the  indifference  toward  the  public 
by  political  bosses  when  ''drunk  with  power."  Their 
lack  of  political  acumen  in  this  instance  was  strikingly 
shown  in  the  subsequent  repudiation  by  the  voters  of 
Wisconsin  of  the  national  convention's  endorsement  of 
the  stalwart  cause. 

On  the  eve  of  the  meeting  of  the  national  committee 
the  largest  delegation  of  half-breed  leaders  ever  gathered 
together  outside  of  a  state  convention  accompanied  Gov 
ernor  LaFollette  and  the  other  national  delegates  to 
Chicago.  It  was  a  war  party,  elate,  defiant,  flushed  with 
victory  and  impatient  under  the  lead  of  the  aggressive 
governor.  Practically  every  prominent  half-breed  leader 
in  the  state  was  in  the  party  whose  magnitude  and  spirit 
were  expected  to  impress  the  national  body,  but  whose 
latter  sensibilities  were  to  prove  tantalizingly  stoical. 
It  is  said  enough  undelivered  speeches  and  arguments  to 
form  a  volume  were  afterward  brought  back  on  the 
"swearing  train"  by  ambitious  members  of  this  dele 
gation  who  had  hoped  to  find  opportunity  to  appear  be 
fore  the  committee. 

The  national,  committee  met  at  Chicago  June  15,  and 
after  hearing  spirited  arguments  by  Mr.  Olin  and  Mr. 
Jeffris  for  the  stalwarts  and  by  H.  W.  Chynoweth  of 
Madison  and  G.  E.  Roe  of  New  York  for  the  half-breeds' 
it  voted  unanimously  to  recommend  the  seating  of  the 
stalwart  delegates.  The  decision  greatly  rejoiced  the 
stalwart  leaders.  Said  J.  G.  Monahan, ' '  I  never  doubted 
the  result.  I  knew  the  committee  was  composed  of  hon 
est  men  and  true  republicans. ' '  Defiance  breathed  from 
all  the  administration  interviews.  ' '  They  are  strong  in 
the  corridors,"  said  Henry  F.  Cochems,  "but  we  are 
strong  in  the  woods."  Said  Walter  Houser,  speaking 
for  the  governor:  "It  is  an  outrageous  steal.  But  we 
never  give  up  a  fight.  We  will  take  our  case  to  the  com 
mittee  on  credentials  and  from  there  to  the  convention. 


BEFORE  THE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  387 

From  there  we  will  carry  it  back  to  Wisconsin.  Governor 
LaFollette 's  fight  will  be  carried  on  in  the  state  just  as 
if  nothing  had  happaned  in  Chicago. ' ' 

In  view  of  the  results  that  followed,  the  comment  of 
Amos  P.  Wilder,  editor  of  the  State  Journal,  at  the  time 
is  interesting.  Mr.  Wilder  said : 

LaFollette  is  a  fighter  and  is  not  cast  down.  If  he  had  the 
confidence  of  the  people  of  the  state  he  would  now  be  in  a  notable 
position  to  transfer  the  war  against  the  state  republican  organiza 
tion  to  the  national  republican  organization.  This  is  a  startling 
thing  to  say,  but  the  fact  is,  among  the  common  people  of  the  land 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  quiet  resistance  to  the  corporation  tendencies 
in  the  republican  party.  LaFollette  could  attempt  to  bring  na 
tional  republicanism  into  line  against  the  railroads,  Tom  Platt 
and  the  corporations,  as  he  has  influenced  a  great  part  of  the  re 
publican  party  in  Wisconsin.  He  has  the  personality,  oratory,  and 
the  organizing  power  to  move  into  the  national  arena;  but,  alas, 
he  has  cut  his  bridges.  *  *  * 

LaFollette  will  fight  for  some  turn,  in  the  courts  or  elsewhere, 
but  he  has  met  his  Waterloo  in  the  national  committee.  Like 
Napoleon  coming  back  from  Elba,  the  governor  may  create  a  ripple 
by  his  valor;  but  the  great  mass  of  his  followers  will  elect  to  be 
republicans,  rather  than  LaFollette  men.  The  ambitious  self- 
seekers  in  his  ranks  will  not  lose  their  future  by  being  known  to 
the  national  leaders  as  bolters,  and  the  rank  and  file  of  his  fol 
lowing  prefer  to  be  "straight"  according  to  the  party  definition. 
The  able  leaders  of  the  party,  the  newspapers  that  Governor  La 
Follette  might  now  have  had  had  he  been  true  to  himself  and 
sought  his  ends  by  straightforward  means,  instead  of  by  indirec 
tions,  are  now  on  the  other  side.  If  he  had  them  today  he  could 
issue  a  manifesto  of  defiance  to  the  national  leaders  in  Chicago 
that  would  shake  the  country. 

From  the  national  committee  the  rival  factionalists 
moved  upon  the  committee  on  credentials  for  the  national 
convention.  The  defiant  refusal  of  the  LaFollette  lead 
ers  to  accept  the  verdict  of  the  national  committee  and 
yield  the  fight  centered  much  curious  interest  in  the  gov 
ernor,  particularly  the  report  that  he  might  seek  to  ap 
pear  before  the  convention  in  person  and  present  his 
side  of  the  case.  After  this  committee  had  likewise 


388  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

heard  the  arguments  a  subcommittee  of  three  was  ap 
pointed  to  sift  the  evidence  and  report  to  the  full  com 
mittee  on  credentials. 

However,  before  the  sub-committee  had  acted  confirma 
tion  of  a  partly  definite  nature  was  obtained  of  the  report 
that  the  gymnasium  delegates  were  already  scheduled 
for  slaughter. 

It  happened  in  this  way:  A  former  Madison  news 
paperman,  Rob  R.  Hiestand,  then  employed  in  Chicago, 
called  at  noon  at  the  headquarters  of  the  committee  on 
credentials.  He  was  met  at  the  door  by  Senator  R.  C. 
Kerens  of  St.  Louis,  who  in  reply  to  the  reporter's  in 
quiry  said  carelessly: 

"Oh,  we're  going  to  throw  them  out." 

The  scribe  immediately  wired  the  reply  to  the  Wiscon 
sin  State  Journal,  then  the  " official"  organ  of  the  stal 
warts.  In  screaming  headlines  this  paper  promptly 
"played  up"  the  forecast  as  an  accomplished  fact.  The 
story  appeared  in  an  early  edition  of  the  paper  which 
went  to  press  at  2  o'clock.  When  later  on  it  developed 
that  the  sub-committee  did  not  make  its  report  until  5 
o'clock  that  afternoon  an  embarrassing  situation  was 
created.  The  LaFollette  partisans  sought  to  make  cap 
ital  of  the  premature  announcement  by  charging  collu 
sion  and  that  it  was  shown  to  have  been  ' '  a  cut  and  dried 
affair  from  the  start."  Afterward  every  copy  of  this 
first  edition  which  the  stalwarts  could  find  was  eagerly 
gathered  up  and  consigned  to  the  flames  that  later  it 
might  not  appear  in  evidence. 

However,  the  hint  dropped  to  Hiestand  at  noon  that 
day  had  done  its  work.  It  was  promptly  conveyed  to 
LaFollette,  who  with  characteristic  forehandedness  de 
termined  on  his  plan  at  once. 

When  the  news  reached  the  governor  he  was  sitting  on 
his  bed  in  a  small  room  in  the  Victoria  hotel  surrounded 
by  other  members  of  the  delegation  and  his  legal  ad- 


THIS   EDITION    OF. THE   WISCONSIN    STATE    JOUR 

WISCONSIN 


TELEPHONES. 

„  BE - 


VOL.  103.     XO    67 


EXTRA! 

NATIONAL  COMMITTEE- 
DKIDES  FOR  STALWARTS 


l_a  Follette  Ticket  Declared  tc  Be  irregular 
at  Chicago  Meeting. 


AND  DECISION  IS  DECLARED  BIRD1N6 


John  M.  Olin  Presents  Case  for  Stalwarts  and  H.  W 

Chynoweth  and  Q.  E.  Roe  Appear  for  La  Follette 

Faction— Ffght   Long  and    Bitter. 


(Special  10  Stat'e  Jo>irnal.l 
Chicago     Juno    17.— The    £ialwart 

gates  at   lar£e~'to  the  republican  na- 


regular,  and  that  the  La 
ket  is  Irregnlar        further 


l-v   I):*-*,    derision*  rb» 


.  mil  rtll  har,  m. 


dal  ejectors.  »i,l  b«  rhe  one» 
tca.offclaJ  sump  of' the  repubjicaa 


• 


refnlarttr    • 

Tb»  or-'nin*  fit  the 
by  )    M   OIlD  of  Mad 
sented  tl>«  stal«aru     The  L»  Folleue 
facuoB    .as    represented    by  H, 


Jlderatlon  of  *.    Wlscontlo    .ontesa 
The  rc^etini;     *-a    called  to  nr.i.^i     b> 


a  ih«  uisi:er  tbe  cl.air  telnj  uk«D 
E«oator  Srotl     H    W   CITrnoweih 

•  Yorlt    formerly    associated  wiib 
Co*    LA     fot!«tl«      presented  to    th< 

_  John  W  Qlln  of  Madison  m«iU  lh< 
first  fpeerb  tor  the  ann  La  Follelu 
side  He  spoke  at  lenctb  tbe  con 

torney  Olln  OTered  tbe  detailj  of  the 


throit  OTI  Ibe  roimlar!)  elected  gul 
••.an  delegates  Tbe  speaker  referred 
to  the  manner  ID  whlrti  the  slat*  co» 
Tentmn  »as  conducted  H*  charred 
that  a  number  of  plunaglles  had  b*cn 
romplalt 


Facsmile  of  State  Journal  Convention  Extra 


390  LAFOLLETTE 's   WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

visers.  The  governor's  brows  darkened.  For  a  time  ho 
sat  gloomily  in  silence  wrestling  with  his  feelings.  No 
one  dared  to  speak.  Even  Chynoweth,  he  of  firm  jaw 
and  unruffled  spirit,  had  no  word  to  offer. 

At  last  LaFollette  arose  and  nervously  paced  the  floor. 
Then  stepping  to  the  door  he  pressed  a  button.  "What 
dreadful  thing  was  going  to  happen  now?  What  new 
sensation  was  to  be  sprung?  What  daring  coup  to  be 
executed  to  startle  the  state  and  the  nation?  Was  the 
foiled  tiger  in  the  man  to  get  the  upper  hand  of  his  usual 
clear  judgment  and  lead  him  into  some  rash  act  that 
might  forever  undo  him  ? 

" Waiter!"  he  said  sternly  when  that  aproned  indi 
vidual  appeared  in  the  doorway,  "bring  me  a  couple  of 
cheese  sandwiches  and  a  bottle  of  milk!" 

His  followers  collapsed  with  relief  at  this  melodramatic 
descent.  LaFollette  ate  his  sandwiches  savagely,  fero 
ciously,  as  if  venting  a  grudge  against  them. 

Then  he  said:  " There  is  no  use,  gentlemen,  in  our 
staying  here  and  permitting  ourselves  to  be  further 
humiliated.  We  cannot  get  justice  here;  the  cards  are 
stacked  against  us.  Let  us  turn  our  backs  on  the  con 
vention  and  appeal  to  the  people  of  Wisconsin;  they 
know  who  is  in  the  right  and  we  can  trust  them  to  vindi 
cate  us. ' ' 

However,  Senator  Stout,  one  of  the  delegates  at  large, 
hesitated  about  going  to  this  length  and  was  inclined  to 
hold  out.  News  of  this  fact  reached  the  governor's 
friends  at  Madison  and  Col.  Hugh  Lewis  promptly  sent 
the  following  telegram  to  Stout : 

" Ignore  packed  committee;  the  people  of  Wisconsin 
know  you  are  right  and  will  sustain  you."  On  this  as 
surance  from  Colonel  Lewis,  Senator  Stout  finally  agreed 
to  the  LaFollette  plan. 

Accordingly  at  4  o'clock  that  afternoon  Mr.  Roe  ap 
peared  before  the  committee  and  throwing  a  statement. 


BEFORE  THE  NATIONAL  CONTENTION  391 

upon  the  table  in  front  of  it  made  the  startling  assertion 
that  he  considered  the  case  prejudged.  "Several  mem 
bers  of  the  committee  on  credentials  before  which  we  are 
now  asked  to  present  our  case  are  members  of  the  na 
tional  committee,  which  passed  on  this  case  before, ' '  said 
Mr.  Roe.  "We  do  not,  therefore,  consider  this  an  un 
prejudiced  committee.  We  understand,  moreover,  that 
several  members  of  this  committee  have  been  approached, 
and  we,  therefore,  decline  to  present  our  case,  preferring 
to  submit  it  to  the  people  of  Wisconsin  at  the  election 
next  November." 

The  members  of  the  committee  were  astounded  at  this 
audacity.  Said  Senator  McComas:  "I  have  grave 
doubts  as  to  whether  we  should  permit  that  paper  to  be 
filed  at  all."  The  governor  and  other  LaFollette  dele 
gates  at  large  immediately  returned  to  Madison. 

The  next  day  the  committee  on  credentials  reported 
against  seating  the  LaFollette  delegation  and  the  conven 
tion  adopted  the  report  with  cheers  of  exultation. 

LaFollette 's  prompt  hurling  of  this  bombshell  of  de 
fiance  proved  a  masterly  political  move.  It  not  only 
spared  him  the  humiliation  over  which  his  opponents 
were  gloating  in  anticipation,  but  further  startled  the 
conscience  of  the  people  to  his  immense  advantage. 

What  have  you  to  say  about  the  action  of  the  con 
vention  today  in  seating  the  stalwart  delegation!"  a 
timid  reporter  asked  the  governor  at  the  executive  office 
on  his  return. 

"Tell  them  I  don't  care  a  particle  what  they  do  at 
Chicago ;  we  shall  appeal  to  the  people  of  the  state  for 
justice." 

"Do  you   want   to   make   that   statement   publicly?"" 
asked  the  reporter,  half -fearing  to  put  such  a  seemingly 
rash  statement  on  paper. 

"Yes,  sir;  T  do."  said  the  governor. 


392  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING  OF   WISCONSIN 

But  political  matters  were  not  the  only  ones  making 
claim  upon  the  governor's  time.  During  the  first  week 
in  June  he  was  called  upon  to  don  the  scholastic  cap  and 
gown  and  participate  in  the  jubilee  exercises  of  the  Uni 
versity  of  Wisconsin  with  distinguished  representatives 
of  great  universities  at  home  and  abroad. 

In  the  closing  days  of  the  month  also  he  delivered  the 
address  dedicating  the  Wisconsin  building  at  the  world's 
fair  at  St.  Louis. 

In  spite  of  the  desperate  situation  at  home  LaFollette 
determined  also  to  fill  his  contracts  previously  made  for 
a  Chautauqua  lecture  tour  of  the  west  in  the  month  of 
August.  In  order  to  press  his  propaganda  of  reform  it 
has  been  necessary  for  LaFollette,  whose  principal  asset 
has  been  his  own  genius  and  magnetic  personality,  to 
take  the  platform  and  come  in  contact  with  the  people. 
Likewise  the  platform  has  been  a  convenient  recourse  for 
needed  revenue.  Up  to  the  time  he  was  elected  United 
States  senator  it  had  been  LaFollette 's  practice  "to  put 
back  into  the  game"  all  the  salary  he  had  drawn  in  the 
public  service.  This  in  part  answers  the  question  as  to 
where  he  has  obtained  the  money  to  finance  his  cam 
paigns.  The  savings  of  his  early  years  in  his  law  prac 
tice  having  been  lost  in  unprofitable  Dakota  investments, 
to  make  a  living  for  his  .family  he  resorted  to  the  Chau 
tauqua  platform  where  he  has  long  been  in  great  demand. 
During  the  dull  summer  months  when  there  would  be 
little  business  at  the  capitol  requiring  his  attention  he 
took  the  opportunity  to  give  a  series  of  such  lectures 
about  the  country. 

"Don't  do  it.  Bob,"  said  Col.  Hugh  Lewis  on  meeting 
'the  governor  one  day  during  this  campaign  and  being 
informed  of  the  latter 's  proposed  trip  ;  ' '  something  might 
happen  while  you  are  away."  "But  I  must,"  said  the 
governor;  "I've  got  to  have  some  money  to  go  into  this 
campaign;  there's  going  to  be  something  doing."  "I've 


BKFOKE  THE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  393 

got  some  money  put  away, ' '  urged  Lewis ;  ' '  not  any  great 
amount,  but  draw  it  if  you  need  it.  If  you  can  pay  it 
back  sometime,  all  right;  if  not,  no  matter." 

But  the  governor  did  not  accept  the  generous  offer  and 
went  on  with  his  lectures.  While  the  governor  was 
absent  on  this  tour  Senator  Spooner  came  on  from  the 
east  and  spent  four  days  in  Madison  going  over  the 
briefs  of  the  stalwart  attorneys,  then  returning  to  his 
New  Hampshire  summer  home. 

Naturally  the  governor's  enemies  sought  to  make  cap 
ital  of  his  absence  on  these  trips,  charging  that  he  was 
neglecting  the  affairs  of  the  state  in  thus  going  away. 

While  on  these  lecture  tours  the  governor  usually  left 
the  office  in  charge  of  his  private  secretary,  Col.  John  J. 
Hannan,  and  his  executive  clerk,  Henry  A.  Huber. 
Huber  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  governor,  hav 
ing  a  similar  physique  and  like  features,  crowned  with 
a  replica  of  LaFollette's  famous  pompadour.  He  may 
be  said  to  have  been  his  alter  ego  in  a  physical  sense. 
He  is  the  only  man  in  the  state  who  can  claim  the  dis 
tinction  of  having  been  frequently  mistaken  for  LaFol- 
lette.  Not  infrequently  after  paying  their  respects  or 
transacting  their  business  rural  visitors  would  leave  the 
office  with  the  pleasing  delusion  that  they  had  been  deal 
ing  with  the  famous  executive  himself,  when  they  had 
simply  chatted  with  Huber. 

With  becoming  modesty  and  kindness  Huber  chose 
not  to  disillusionize  such  trustful  simplicity  and  thereby 
emphasize  his  resemblance.  In  fact,  it  was  said  and 
seriously  believed  by  some  that  Huber  was  chosen  for 
the  position  by  the  governor  because  of  the  advantage 
this  similarity  in  appearance  would  give.  It  would  in 
effect  be  doubling  the  governor  to  an  extent  and  thus  be 
a  saving  of  the  executive's  time  whenever  callers  chose 
to  make  a  mistake  and  there  was  nothing  vital  about 
their  missions. 


394  LAFOLLETTE 's  WINNING  or  WISCONSIN 

It  chanced  that  once  a  Milwaukee  caller  found  the 
entire  office  force,  from  governor  down  to  stenographer, 
out  of  the  city  on  political  business.  William  Miller,  the 
colored  messenger,  was  the  only  person  about.  Even 
Jennie  Nelson  and  Nellie  Dunn,  his  capable  clerks,  were 
missing.  The  resourceful  Milwaukeean  was  not  to  be 
dismayed,  however,  and  called  upon  Miller  to  do  his 
business  for  him,  which  the  latter — illustrating  the 
American  capacity  for  meeting  emergencies — obligingly 
did.  Thereupon  the  visitor  in  imitation  of  the  confer 
ring  of  knighthood  said : 

"I  hereby  dub  and  create  thee  Governor  Miller." 
Miller  was  thus  styled  "the  first  colored  executive  a 
northern  state  ever  had,"  and  so  far  as  he  went  every 
body  admitted  that  "Governor  Miller"  made  a  pretty 

good  official. 

*     *     # 

The  month  of  August  was  also  to  witness  the  so-called 
political  execution  of  John  J.  Kempf,  one  of  the  many 
exciting  episodes  of  that  exciting  time.  Kempf  was  state 
treasurer  and  in  some  manner  had  committed  or  per 
mitted  an  irregularity  in  his  relations  with  state  depos 
itories.  The  situation  finally  came  to  the  notice  of  the 
newspapers,  and  created  a  great  scandal  at  once,  and  as 
Kempf 's  explanations  only  added  to  the  confusion  many 
began  to  fear  that  a  thorough  probing  might  reveal  a 
very  serious  condition  of  affairs.  Accordingly  to  secure 
the  state  Governor  LaFollette  immediately  served  notice 
upon  the  state  treasurer  that  he  would  have  to  raise  his 
bond  from  $250,000  to  the  limit  of  $600,000,  an  enormous 
increase,  or  the  office  would  be  declared  vacant  by  a  cer 
tain  date.  But  Kempf  was  unable  to  raise  his  bond. 
Although  he  had  befriended  them,  the  stalwarts  did  not 
now  reciprocate  by  coming  to  his  rescue  with  the  money 
so  badly  needed.  At  first  they  sympathized  with  him 
and  added  this  action  of  LaFollette 's  to  the  long  and 


BEFORE  THE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  395 

growing  category  of  the  executive  '.s  sins.  It  was  un 
warranted  cruelty,  this  harrying  of  a  fellow  official,  they 
said,  and  done  to  discipline  him  for  dawdling  when  the 
political  whip  had  cracked. 

Kempf  not  being  of  heroic  clay  had  not  shown  the 
enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of  the  administration  that  other 
wise  possibly  might  have  spared  him  this  humiliation. 
In  fact,  he  appeared  to  have  been  flirting  with  the  other 
side  in  the  matter  of  appointments  and  business. 

Stalwart  conferences  were  held  even  over  this  floating 
political  straw.  Would  it  pay  to  take  Kempf  up,  set 
a  martyr's  aureole  on  his  brow  and  then  call  upon  a 
justice-loving  people  to  avenge  a  great  wrong?  Kempf 's 
own  vacillation  finally  determined  the  answer.  As  he 
could  neither  increase  his  bond  nor  explain  the  discrep 
ancy  in  the  treasury  their  attitude  changed.  Perhaps 
Kempf  would  prove  an  undesirable.  If  so  he  must  not 
be  taken  up,  for  already  too  many  such  were  being  car 
ried  for  the  good  of  the  cause.  So  it  ended  that  Kempf 
was  left  out  in  the  cold  by  both  factions  and  the  stal 
warts  took  another  tack  at  political  capital  by  denounc 
ing  Kempf  as  part  of  the  LaFollette  machine  and  char 
acteristic  of  its  workings.  Poor  Kempf!  'Day  by  day 
slipped  by.  The  scandal  still  smelled  unexplained  to 
heaven  and  though  he  made  many  frantic  trips  to  Mil 
waukee  he  could  get  no  one  to  endorse  his  bond.  Finally 
he  appealed  to  a  great  surety  company  in  the  east.  It 
sent  two  expert  accountants  to  Madison  to  go  over  the 
treasurer's  books  and  report  on  the  advisability  of  fur 
nishing  the  bond.  Day  after  day  dragged  by  and  the 
experts  were  unable  to  give  their  decision.  When  the 
morning  of  August  30,  the  day  set  by  Governor  LaFol 
lette  as  the  limit  of  time  for  producing  the  bond,  arrived 
there  was  a  tense  feeling  about  the  capitol.  Would 
Kempf  be  able  to  furnish  his  bond  by  noon?  would  he 
resist  removal  if  he  couldn't?  would  there  be  a  scene? 


396  LAFOLLETTE'S    WINNING   OF   WISCONSIN 

were  the  questions  everywhere  asked.  Perhaps  his 
friends  might  come  to  his  aid  and  contest  his  removal 
by  violence.  There  were  rumors  of  injunctions,  of 
armed  men  coming  from  Milwaukee,  of  possible  "sur 
prises."  There  was  little  doing  in  the  treasury;  the 
force  was  too  unstrung  for  work.  Early  in  the  day 
Kempf  had  made  a  demand  on  the  assistant  treasurer, 
T.  M.  Purtell,  for  certain  keys,  but  suspecting  the  treas 
urer's  motives  the  assistant  refused  to  turn  them  over 
and  was  promptly  told  he  could  consider  himself  re 
moved,  but  the  incident  ended  there.  Kempf  then  re 
tired  to  his  inner  office  and  chatted  casually  for  some 
hours  with  two  Milwaukee  friends  and  a  newspaper  re 
porter.  Still  the  bonding  company 's  experts  were  silent. 
At  last  the  town  whistles  announced  the  noon  hour  and 
immediately  a  cloud  of  curious  capitol  officials  and  em 
ployes  gathered  about  the  treasury  door  to  await  de 
velopments.  Kempf  came  out  of  his  inner  office  and 
walked  to  one  of  the  desks  and  just  then  the  crowd  gave 
way  and  C.  C.  Bennett,  assistant  superintendent  of  pub 
lic  property,  walked  rapidly  in  bearing  a  paper  in  his 
handT  In  port  and  demeanor  the  big  swarthy  deputy 
suggested  to  -the  imagination  the  executioner  of  old,  but 
his  weapon  was  the  invisible  political  axe.  Stepping  up 
to  Kempf  he  read  the  declaration  of  the  latter 's  practical 
removal,  as  follows : 

Executive  Office,  State  of  Wisconsin,  Aug.  30,  1904. 
John  J.  Kempf,  Madison,  Wis. 

Sir:  You  are  hereby  notified  that  your  failure  to  furnish  the 
additional  bond  of  $350,000  as  state  treasurer,  on  or  before  12 
o'clock  noon,  this  thirtieth  day  of  August,  pursuant  to  the  demand 
heretofore  made  upon  you  in  writing  by  me  as  governor  of  the 
state  of  Wisconsin  creates  a  vacancy  in  the  office  of  state  treasurer 
of  Wisconsin  by  operation  of  law.  Therefore,  I,  Kobert  M.  La- 
Follettc,  governor  of  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  do  hereby  formally 
declare  the  office  of  state  treasurer  of  Wisconsin  vacant. 

R.  M.  LAFOLLETTE,  Governor. 


BEFORE  THE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  397 

Kempf  listened  attentively  to  the  reading  and  at  its 
conclusion  undramatically  said  ' '  all  right ' '  and  returned 
to  his  inner  office  for  his  hat.  The  agony  was  over. 

This,  however,  was  not  the  end  nor  the  whole  of  the 
Kempf  comedy,  or  tragedy.  It  was  to  continue  a  diver 
sion  to  the  very  end  of  this  campaign  so  rich  in  unusual 
features  and  incidents.  In  other  words  Kempf  was  to 
stage  a  little  court  side  show  of  his  own,  independent  of 
the  big  stalwart  exhibit. 

Kempf  had  been  renominated  at  the  gymnasium  con 
vention  with  the  other  state  officers,  but  a  day  or  two 
after  the  exposure  of  the  practices  in  the  treasury  he  an 
nounced  his  resignation  from  the  ticket,  having  been 
smitten  with  fear  after  a  visit  from  Chairman  Connor 
and  Theodore  Kronshage. 

Scarcely  had  these  persuasive  worthies  left  him,  how 
ever,  when  Kempf  changed  his  mind  and  announced  that 
he  proposed  remaining  on  the  ticket;  that  he  had  signed 
his  resignation  under  the  influence  of  threats  made  by 
Chairman  Connor.  On  August  20  he  discharged  two 
clerks,  W.  F.  Duke  and  W.  A.  Richter,  who  were  more 
or  less  actively  hostile  to  the  administration.  This  act 
was  generally  regarded  as  a  bid  on  his  part  for  greater 
consideration  in  the  treasury  matter  or  for  his  retention 
on  the  state  ticket.  However,  this  hope  for  favor  seemed 
to  prove  a  delusion  and  when  three  days  later  Governor 
LaFollette  ordered  him  to  raise  his  bond  Kempf  secured 
a  temporary  injunction  from  Judge  Halsey  of  Milwau 
kee  restraining  Chairman  Connor  and  Secretary  of  State 
Houser  from  taking  him  off  the  ticket,  although  his 
resignation  hacf  been  accepted.  He  set  forth  that  he  had 
signed  his  resignation  only  when  threatened  by  Connor 
with  prosecution  for  embezzlement  if  he  would  not  do  so. 

Also  the  day  after  Kempf 's  removal  Chief  Justice 
Cassoday  of  the  supreme  court,  signed  an  order  upon 
the  governor  and  other  state  officers  to  show  cause  why 


;J98  LAFOLLETTE'S   WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Kempf  should  not  be  allowed  to  bring  suit  for  the  re 
tention  of  the  treasuryship. 

Finally  on  October  28,  a  few  days  before  election, 
Kempf  secured  from  another  Milwaukee  court,  Judge 
Ludwig,  a  decision  holding  that  his  alleged  resignation 
was  void.  Kempf  was  allowed  to  remain  on  the  ticket. 
As  the  campaign  progressed  in  intensity  his  affair  was  so 
overshadowed  as  to  be  practically  forgotten.  There  was 
no  disposition  to  further  harry  him  and  he  was  trium 
phantly  re-elected. 

In  fact  through  the  aid  of  sympathetic  stalwart  votes 
he  made  such  a  good  showing  in  the  election  that  it  be 
come  a  passing  newspaper  pleasantry  to  suggest ' '  Kempf, 

the  vote-getter,"  for  the  next  United  States  senator. 

#     #     * 

The  democratic  platform  of  that  year  was  but  slightly 
less  reactionary  than  that  of  1902.  The  same  interests 
that  had  dominated  the  preceding  convention  of  the 
party  reappeared  at  the  convention  of  1904  which  opened 
at  Oshkosh  August  31  of  that  year,  the  last  convention 
of  its  kind  in  Wisconsin.  The  array  of  railroad  attor 
neys  was  particularly  significant.  Former  Senator  Wil 
liam  F.  Vilas  of  Madison,  National  Committeeman  T.  E. 
Ryan  of  Waukesha,  Dave  Rose  of  Milwaukee,  Neal  Brown 
of  Wausau,  J.  M.  Clancey  of  Stoughton  and  T.  M. 
Kearney  of  Racine  led  the  forces  of  reaction. 

A  valiant  minority  led  by  such  men  as  J.  L.  O'Connor 
of  Milwaukee,  who  was  made  chairman,  W.  G.  Bruce, 
A.  J.  Schmitz  and  L.  G.  Bomrich  of  Milwaukee,  John  A. 
Walsh  of  Washburn  and  T.  L.  Cleary  of  Platteville 
sought  to  put  the  party  in  line  with  the  progressive 
declarations  of  the  republican  administration  and  by 
hard  fighting  succeeded  in  saving  the  party  from  going 
the  whole  length  in  the  matter  of  reactionary  doctrine. 
Before  the  convention  opened  it  was  predicted  that  the 
party  would  reverse  itself  in  its  stand  of  two  years  be- 


BEFORE  THE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  399 

fore,  but  with  the  arrival  of  Colonel  Vilas  on  the  scene 
and  his  selection  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on  resolu 
tions  this  hope  was  dispelled.  He  became  the  dominat 
ing  figure  of  the  convention  and  molded  its  flabby  body  to 
his  entire  liking.  The  progressive  members  of  the  com 
mittee  on  resolutions,  Messrs.  Bruce,  Cleary,  Burke,  and 
Walsh,  fought  strongly  for  a  platform  squarely  endors 
ing  primary  elections,  a  railway  rate  commission  with 
power  to  fix  rates,  2-cent  fares,  etc.,  and  went  to  the  ex 
tent  of  bringing  in  a  minority  report,  but  amid  taunts 
that  their  supporters  were  LaFollette  servitors  these 
planks  were  voted  down  and  milk-and-water  substitutes 
adopted. 

The  minority  heartily  favored  "the  principle  of  pri 
mary  elections,"  but  the  majority  report  pronounced  it 
"undemocratic"  as  it  had  in  1902  and  denounced  the 
law  then  under  a  referendum. 

The  railroad  interests  were  particularly  active  in  the 
convention  and  one  delegate  declared  that  the  committee 
on  resolutions  was  given  to  understand  that  one  railroad 
campaign  contribution  alone  of  $15,000  could  be  ob 
tained  were  a  stand  hostile  to  the  LaFollette  position 
taken  with  reference  to  railroads.  If  the  old  convention 
system  was  to  be  condemned  because  of  its  unrepresenta 
tive,  corrupting  and  immoral  boss  features,  it  was  pecu 
liarly  appropriate  that  it  should  pass  out  of  existence  in 
Wisconsin  under  such  auspices  and  practices  as  marked 
this  occasion. 

The  amiable  George  W.  Peck  of  Milwaukee,  whose 
previous  administrations  had  been  marked  by  scandalous 
lobbying  and  a  low  official  tone  in  general  in  the  legisla 
ture,  was  named  for  governor. 

While  the  formal  speech  making  campaign  of  the  ad 
ministration  may  be  said  to  'have  not  begun  until  Oc 
tober,  it  was  a  sort  of  continuous  campaign  on  the  part 
of  the  governor,  who  went  out  whenever  he  found  op- 


400  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING   OF  WISCONSIN 

portunity  to  do  so.  On  August  18  he  delivered  a  stir 
ring  and  characteristic  address  in  Eau  Claire  in  which 
he  outlined  his  story  of  the  recent  state  conventions  and 
repeated  his  defiant  determination  not  to  be  influenced 
in  his  course  whatever  the  decision  of  the  supreme  court 
might  prove  to  be.  Charging  the  railroads  with  having 
given  rebates  of  $5,432,000  in  five  years,  he  declared  that 
at  the  last  session  of  the  legislature  Assemblyman  Finne- 
gan  of  Green  Bay  had  brought  him  a  handful  of  letters 
from  merchants  asking  for  the  passage  of  the  rate  com 
mission  bill  and  another  handful  of  forged  telegrams 
purporting  to  come  from  the  same  merchants  protesting 
against  the  bill. 

Once  under  way,  the  campaign  was  pushed  with  ex 
traordinary  vigor  by  the  opposing  factions,  who  seemed 
for  a  time  to  have  lost  sight  of  the  common  democratic 
foe  in  their  fierce  intra-party  rivalry. 

The  first  week  in  October  was  one  of  stirring  develop 
ments.  On  the  first  day  LaFollette  invaded  Trempea- 
leau  county  and  urged  the  defeat  of  Senator  Gaveney. 
On  the  second,  Chairman  Goldin  of  the  stalwart  state 
central  committee,  announced  that  he  would  put  a  hun 
dred  speakers  into  the  field  to  defeat  LaFollette.  The 
third  day  Senator  Spooner  issued  a  sweeping  denial  of 
the  charges  of  Lincoln  Steffens.  On  the  fourth  the  inci 
dents  were  the  death  of  Postmaster  General  Payne  at 
Washington,  the  suit  of  former  Governor  Scofield  against 
the  Milwaukee  Free  Press  and  a  speech  by  Senator 
Spooner  at  Milwaukee  in  denunciation  of  LaFollette. 
The  fifth  day  the  supreme  court  handed  down  its  de 
cision  in  the  factional  controversy,  while  on  the  follow 
ing  day  Cook  withdrew  from  the  head  of  the  stalwart 
ticket  and  Scofield  was  substituted  in  his  place.  Such 
were  the  unravelings  in  a  week  of  the  tangled  skein  of 
factional  history. 

Desperate  as  seemed  the  prospects  of  his  own  personal 


BEFORE  XHE  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  401 

fortunes,  LaFollette  did  not  hesitate  to  still  further  im 
peril  them  by  asking  the  defeat  of  reactionary  republican 
candidates  for  the  legislature  where  he  felt  some  reason 
able  assurance  that  they  might  be  succeeded  by  progres 
sives. 

The  saving  of  self  was  not  sufficient,  as  with  the  gen 
erality  of  politicians;  he  resolved,  if  possible,  to  also 
carry  with  him  a  legislature  of  his  own  kind.  Accord 
ingly  on  October  1,  he  invaded  Trempealeau  county  for 
a  series  of  three  speeches  that  day  in  the  course  of  which 
he  sharply  assailed  J.  C.  Gaveney,  the  stalwart  state 
senator  of  the  county.  An  interesting  circumstance  in 
connection  with  the  day  was  the  fact  that  he  and  Gaveney 
rode  fifty  miles  that  day  on  the  same  train,  in  fact  oc 
cupying  the  same  railroad  coach. 

An  incident  that  gave  the  governor's  friends  some 
worry  was  the  sending  of  a  letter  to  National  Chairman 
Cortelyou  by  148  professed  LaFollette  men,  saying  that 
they  would  abide  by  the  decision  of  the  national  conven- 
vention  unless  the  supreme  court  should  rule  otherwise. 
Many  feared  that  this  apparent  large  defection  from  the 
governor 's  standard  would  weaken  him,  but  the  governor 
pointed  out  that  many,  if  not  most  of  the  signers  were 
"weaklings"  in  the  faith  and  would  be  found  to  have 
little  influence.  His  view  was  to  prove  correct.  Few  of 
the  signers  have  since  been  heard  from  politically. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 1 1 
The  Supreme  Court  Decision. 

STALWARTS  APPEAR  BEFORE  TRIBUNAL — DEMAND  KEPUBLICAN 
COLUMN  ON  BALLOT — ATTORNEYS  IN  BIG  LEGAL  CONTROVERSY — 
COURT  SUSTAINS  STATE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE — COOK  WITHDRAWS — 
STALWARTS  DEMORALIZED. 


THE 


victory  of  the  stalwarts  before  the  national  con 
vention  was  an  important  one,  but  another  even  more 
necessary  from  a  tactical  point  of  view  had  to  be  won, 
which  was,  to  capture  the  republican  column  on  the  offi 
cial  ballot  and  thus  obtain  the  further  prestige  of  regu 
larity.  Secretary  of  State  Houser,  an  administration 
partisan,  who  made  up  the  ballot,  stood  in  the  way  and 
could  be  overcome,  if  at  all,  only  through  the  courts.  To 
forestall  delays,  it  was  determined  to  ask  the  supreme 
court  in  the  first  instance  for  a  writ  restraining  Houser 
from  placing  the  LaFollette  ticket  in  the  republican 
column  and  directing  him  to  give  such  place  to  the  stal 
wart  ticket  on  the  ground  that  the  national  convention 
was  the  highest  party  authority  and  that  such  national 
convention  had  placed  the  seal  of  regularity  upon  the 
stalwart  convention. 

On  August  9  the  court,  on  motion  of  John  M.  Olin, 
granted  the  attorneys  for  the  stalwarts,  right  to  begin 
suit  in  equity  for  such  injunction  and  the  secretary  of 
state  was  given  two  days  for  his  answer.  No  injunction 
was  ever  issued  by  the  court  in  this  case. 

In  line  with  its  contention  that  the  supreme  court  had 
no  jurisdiction  in  a  purely  party  or  factional  contro 
versy  the  administration  determined  to  proceed  with 
regularity  to  obtain  party  recognition. 

With  the  prospect  of  two  tickets  making  claim,  Secre 
tary  of  State  Houser  appealed  to  the  old  republican 


THE  SUPREME  COURT  DECISION  403 

state  central  committee  to  determine  which  of  the  two 
conventions  was  regular  and  if  it  had  acted  properly, 
and  legally  in  its  certification  of  the  membership  of  the 
state  convention.  The  stalwarts  protested  loudly  at  this, 
declaring  that  since  that  committee  no  longer  existed  it 
could  neither  be  called  together  nor  would  its  members 
have  any  jurisdiction. 

Nevertheless,  the  old  committee  met  at  Madison  August 
18  and  listened  to  a  letter  from  Secretary  of  State 
Houser  that  demands  had  been  made  in  behalf  of  two 
tickets  to  go  in  the  republican  column  on  the  official 
ballot  and  that  a  decision  was  desired  from  the  commit 
tee  as  to  which  was  entitled  to  recognition. 

"With  great  solemnity  and  regularity  the  committee 
decided  it  could  not  go  ahead  in  such  a  serious  matter 
without  a  full  knowledge  of  the  facts  and  the  giving  of 
both  sides  an  opportunity  to  be  heard.  So  an  adjourn 
ment  was  taken  to  September  12  to  give  the  attorneys 
time  to  present  their  testimony  and  briefs. 

On  September  12  the  old  committee  again  met  in  a 
room  in  the  Brown  block  at  Madison.  Present  were 
Gen.  George  E.  Bryant,  chairman;  C.  0.  Marsh,  secre 
tary;  Theodore  Kronshage,  John  M.  Nelson,  C.  C.  Git- 
tings,  Perry  C.  Wilder,  J.  C.  McKenzie,  J.  A.  Stone,  S. 
E.  Gernon,  W.  T.  Sarles,  H.  J.  Van  Cleve,  S.  J.  Brad 
ford,  T.  P.  Dousman,  Dwight  T.  Parker  and  W.  H. 
Smith.  I.  L.  Lenroot  appeared  as  attorney  for  the  ticket 
headed  by  LaFollette  while  Olin  &  Butler,  Madison,  were 
present  for  the  Cook  ticket. 

Mr.  Olin  immediately  made  the  point  that  since  the  old 
committee  had  passed  out  of  existence  it  had  nothing  to 
say  about  party  procedure.  Whereupon  to  consider  this 
point  the  committee  voted  to  go  into  executive  session. 
Newspapermen  and  attorneys  were  excluded  with  other 
visitors.  After  an  hour,  in  which  time  it  is  said  some 
excellent  cigars  were  consumed,  the  committee  reopened 


404  LAFOU-ETTK'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

the  doors  and  declared  that  after  due  consideration  it 
was  found  the  objections  of  Olin  &  Butler  were  not  well 
taken  and  consequently  were  overruled;  the  attorneys 
would  proceed. 

Mr.  Olin  refused  to  do  so  and  withdrew,  whereupon 
Mr.  Lenroot  took  up  the  examination  of  witnesses.  State 
Chairman  W.  D.  Connor  was  called.  It  had  been  "worth 
coming  far  and  staying  long"  to  have  heard  the  inter 
esting  story  counsel  solemnly  drew  from  the  injured 
state  chairman,  remarked  a  visitor  present.  As  if  the 
members  of  the  committee  and  counsel  had  never  heard 
of  the  convention  (over  which  said  counsel  had  himself 
presided),  Connor  gravely  told  of  this  historic  meeting, 
of  the  cruel  attempted  usurpation  by  the  stalwarts,  of 
the  abuse  and  insults  to  which  he  and  his  associates  had 
been  subjected,  of  the  regular,  correct  and  dignified 
course  the  administration  and  the  new  committee  had 
ever  pursued,  and  finally  of  the  arbitrary  and  shameless 
action  of  the  national  convention,  and  the  attempt  now  of 
a  brutal  and  bolting  faction  to  obtain  a  place  on  the 
party  ticket. 

The  committee  decided  that  another  executive  session 
was  necessary.  Again  after  an  hour  it  reopened  the 
doors  and  announced  its  decision  that  the  gymnasium 
convention  was  the  regular  one,  that  its  ticket  was  the 
real  republican  article  and  that  the  national  convention 
was  not  competent  to  decide  in  the  matter.  A  statement 
to  this  effect  was  signed  by  all  the  administration  mem 
bers. 

Of  this  extraordinary  proceeding  the  Milwaukee  Sen 
tinel  said  ironically: 

The  old  committee  did  its  duty.  It  haled  itself  before  the 
council  composed  of  itself,  heard  its  own  case,  acted  as  court, 
prisoner,  prosecuting  attorney,  defendant's  attorney,  jury,  sheriff, 
court  crier  and  clerk  of  the  court  and  after  a  full  and  impartial 
hearing  pronounced  itself  ' '  not  guilty. ' ' 


THE  SUPREME  COURT  DECISION  405 

On  September  5,  in  a  crowded  courtroom,  the  admin 
istration,  represented  by  H.  W.  Chynoweth,  attorney, 
and  R.  M.  Bashford,  I.  L.  Lenroot  and  John  Barnes,  of 
counsel,  made  its  formal  reply  in  the  form  of  a  counter 
motion  for  dismissal  of  the  complaint  and  suit  on  the 
ground  that  the  court  lacked  jurisdiction ;  that  the  juris 
diction  was  committed  to  the  state  central  committee  of 
1902,  under  section  35,  revised  statutes  of  1898,  reading 
in  part : 

"When  two  or  more  conventions  or  caucuses  shall  be 
held  and  the  nominations  thereof  certified,  each  claiming 
to  be  the  regular  convention  or  caucus  of  the  same  poli 
tical  party,  preference  in  designation  shall  be  given  to 
the  nominations  of  the  one  certified  by  the  committee 
which  had  been  officially  certified  to  be  authorized  to 
represent  the  party."  The  case  was  set  for  hearing 
September  14  and  printed  briefs  were  ordered  to  be 
filed  by  that  date.  When  the  case  came  up  for  hearing 
the  court  for  two  days  listened  to  able  arguments  on  the 
question  of  jurisdiction. 

In  the  meantime  the  decision  of  the  supreme  court 
was  awaited  with  the  keenest  anticipations,  in  spite  of 
the  professed  indifference  of  the  leaders  in  both  factions, 
and  their  declarations  not  to  be  deterred  from  their  re 
spective  courses  by  it.  The  morning  of  September  27,  on 
which  day  the  decision  was  expected  to  come  down,  the 
court  room  was  crowded  with  politicians  who  listened 
intently  for  "State  No.  11."  But  no  decision  was  an 
nounced.  Plainly  there  was  much  disappointment. 
Were  it  not  to  come  down  for  three  more  weeks— the 
regular  time  for  the  next  decisions — the  time  would  be 
short  to  turn  the  verdict  into  the  most  effective  political 
capital.  In  the  meantime  there  was  nothing  to  prevent 
the  secretary  of  state  from  placing  the  LaFollette  ticket 
in  the  coveted  column ;  both  the  present  and  the  preced 
ing  state  central  committees  were  prepared  to  certify  to 


406  LAFOLLETTE'S    WINNING    OF    WISCONSIN 

such  ticket.  However,  they  resolved  to  respectfully 
await  the  court's  finding. 

Finally,  early  in  the  morning  of  October  5  notice  was 
quietly  sent  the  newspapers  that  a  decision  would  come 
down  that  forenoon.  The  papers  promptly  cleared  their 
columns  and  pulled  down  their  biggest  type  for  the  han 
dling  of  the  great  story.  All  newsboys  were  called  in 
to  handle  the  "extras"  and  decrepit  typewriting  ma 
chines  began  everywhere  clicking  out  new  political 
guesses  and  speculations. 

The  decision  was  a  victory  for  the  administration. 
Three  judges,  Justices  Marshall — who  wrote  the  opinion 
— -"Winslow  and  Dodge,  took  the  administration's  view, 
Chief  Justice  Cassoday  dissenting.  Justice  Siebecker 
took  no  part  in  the  proceedings. 

Naturally,  the  decision  occasioned  the  greatest  rejoic 
ing  in  the  administration  camp,  and  the  governor  created 
great  enthusiasm  in  a  rural  audience  in  Waukesha  county 
by  dramatically  producing  a  telegram  announcing  the 
decision  and  reading  it  aloud. 

In  its  decision  the  court  said  in  opening: 

The  controversy  shown  to  exist  by  the  foregoing  sufficiently 
concerns  the  prerogatives  of  the  state,  and  affects  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  to  be  within  the  original  jurisdiction  of  this  court. 

Continuing  it  said: 

The  decision  of  the  national  republican  convention  as  to  which 
of  the  two  sets  of  delegates  from  this  state  claiming  the  right  to 
represent  the  republican  party  thereof  in  such  convention  was 
entitled  to  recognition  is  not  of  any  significance  as  a  guide  to  the 
secretary  of  state,  or  to  the  committee  authorized  to  determine 
the  factional  dispute  under  said  section  35,  since  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  thereof,  as  regards  the  official  ballot  law,  was  con 
ferred  by  the  legislature  upon  the  latter  as  a  special  tribunal. as 
before  indicated.  *  *  *  It  is  the  duty  of  the  secretary  of  state 
to  act  accordingly,  certifying  both  sets  of  nominations  to  the 
various  county  clerks,  but  giving  to  those  headed  by  Robert  M. 
LaFollette,  for  governor,  preference  as  aforesaid.  *  *  *  Duly 
constituted  authority  having  spoken  within  its  jurisdiction  it  must 
be  conclusively  presumed  held  to  have  spoken  rightly. 


THE  SUPREME  COURT  DECISION  407 

A  day  or  two  afterward  Chief  Justice  Cassoday 
handed  down  an  opinion,  saying  in  part: 

As  I  understand,  this  court  has  not  undertaken  to  determine 
which  of  the  two  conventions  was  composed  of  a  majority  of  the 
rightfully  elected  delegates.  *  *  *  The  whole  question  is  thus 
made  to  turn  upon  the  power  of  the  committee  and  not  upon  the 
question  whether  the  one  convention  or  the  other  was  composed  of 
a  majority  of  the  rightfully  elected  delegates.  To  bar  from  the 
convention,  even  for  the  purposes  of  organization,  the  rightful 
representatives  of  voters  is,  as  it  seems  to  me,  in  effect  to  bar 
out  the  voters  who  sent  them. 

The  decision  caused  great  chagrin  among  the  stal 
warts.  It  was  realized  that  it  was  a  death  blow  to  their 
hopes.  The  State  Journal  insinuated  band  wagon  pro 
clivities  on  the  part  of  the  court  and  suggested  support 
of  Peck,  the  democratic  nominee,  saying : . 

There  is  everything  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose  by  abating  this 
growing  nuisance  known  as  LaFolletteism. 

Apart  from  politics  it  will  be  heavenly  to  have  peace  restored 
to  this  state.  Bob  LaFollette  has  led  us  all  a  hard  race  for  a 
half  dozen  years.  Poor  Myrick,  one  of  the  best  of  fellows  in 
normal  times,  must  be  worn  out;  and  everyone  who  is  even  re 
motely  related  to  this  factional  row  has  been  reduced  to  nervous 
prostration.  Bob  done  it.  It  is  all  for  his  glory.  Can 't  we  make 
up  a  fund  and  ship  this  stormy  petrel  to  some  island  of  the  sea 
where  he  can  stand  on  an  isolated  cliff  and  make  speeches  to  the 
suckers  of  the  sea  and  the  gulls  of  the  air?  Wisconsin  is  weary — 
oh,  so  weary,  of  LaFollette 's  tempest!  Let  us  arise  and  sing, 
"Rest,  Perfect  Rest!" 

True  to  his  declaration  that  he  would  abide  by  the 
decision  of  the  supreme  court,  Cook  promptly  resigned 
from  the  stalwart  state  ticket  as  candidate  for  governor 
when  the  court  decided  that  the  LaFollette  ticket  was 
entitled  to  the  recognition  of  regularity.  This  action, 
coupled  with  that  of  the  court,  had  a  most  depressing  and 
demoralizing  effect  on  the  stalwart  organization.  With 
the  general  abandoning  his  army  at  a  most  crucial  point, 
the  contest  now  practically  degenerated  into  a  rout. 

To  save  appearances,  former  Governor  Edward  Sco- 


408  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

field  was  substituted  for  Cook,  and  so  great  was  Scofield 's 
hatred  of  LaFollette  that  he  readily  consented  to  the 
sacrifice  in  the  hope  of  thereby  defeating  LaFollette  by 
dividing  the  party  vote. 

Scofield  was  a  better  fighter  than  Cook,  and  a  few  days 
before  had  proved  this  by  instituting  a  suit  for  $100,000 
against  the  Milwaukee  Free  Press  for  carrying  a  story 
to  the  effect  that  while  a  member  of  the  state  senate, 
Scofield  had  handled  Sawyer  money  during  a  United 
States  senatorship  election.  However,  Senator  Spooner 
advised  the  withdrawal  of  the  stalwart  state  ticket  and 
on  October  10,  the  state  central  committee  of  that  fac 
tion,  met  and  considered  this  suggestion  under  the  guise 
of  thereby  saving  the  republican  presidential  ticket. 
The  proposition  was  not  adopted,  however,  and  Spooner 
was  urged  to  remain  in  the  field  and  continue  the  fight 
on  LaFollette.  Accordingly  he  made  two  more  speeches 
against  LaFollette  and  then  returned  to  the  east  to  re 
main  until  near  the  close  of  the  campaign. 

Secretary  of  State  Houser  and  Treasurer  Kempf  were 
not  the  only  state  officers  involved  in  litigation  during 
this  memorable  campaign.  All  of  them,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  were 
more  or  less  so  involved. 

Commissioner  of  Insurance  Zeno  M.  Host  staged  a  big 
special  exhibit  of  his  own.  as  was  remarked  at  the  time, 
by  taking  up  the  cudgels  against  the  two  mighty  insur 
ance  companies — the  Equitable  and  the  Prudential,  and 
then  as  a  side  diversion  bringing  action  against  two  Mil 
waukee  newspapers.  Host  had  ruled  that  the  Equitable 
society  was  obliged  to  distribute  its  surplus  every  five 
years.  About  $8,000,000  in  surplus  was  involved  in 
Wisconsin  alone,  it  was  claimed.  The  Equitable  re 
sisted  Host's  ruling,  and  obtained  an  injunction  restrain 
ing  him  from  revoking  its  license,  as  he  threatened  to 
do  if  it  did  not  make  such  distribution.  Host,  however, 


THE  SUPREME  COURT  DECISION  409 

was  sustained  in  the  lower  court  whereupon  the  company 
carried  the  case  to  the  supreme  court. 

In  the  meantime,  trouble  had  arisen  with  the  Pruden 
tial  company.  An  examination  of  the  company's  books 
had  disclosed  that  over  half  of  its  40,000  shares  were  held 
by  the  Fidelity  Trust  Company  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  mak 
ing  the  solvency  of  the  Prudential  dependent  on  the 
solvency  of  the  trust  company.  When  Host  therefore 
sought  to  make  an  examination  of  the  trust  company  and 
was  refused  any  information,  he  gave  notice  that  he 
would  refuse  to  renew  the  license  of  the  Prudential  com 
pany  to  do  business  in  Wisconsin.  At  this  the  Pruden 
tial  company  secured  an.  injunction  temporarily  restrain 
ing  the  commissioner  from  revoking  the  license.  Host 
charged  that  the  trust  company  was  underwriting  a  large 
number  of  public  service  corporations  and  was  fearful  of 
an  examination  and  furthermore  that  the  two  insurance 
companies  had  leagued  to  discredit  and  defeat  him  as 
shown  by  the  fact  that  the  same  attorneys  appeared 
against  him  for  both  companies.  It  was  a  sinister  at 
tempt  on  the  part  of  the  Equitable,  he  declared,  to  retain 
$70,000,000  of  surplus  due  its  policy  holders. 

Host  was  a  good  fighter,  big  of  body,  clear  of  head, 
thick  of  skin,  decisive  and  unafraid,  and  so  far  from  be 
ing  embarrassed  by  his  fights  with  these  big  corporations, 
he  also  brought  suit  for  $150,000  damages  against  the 
Milwaukee  Sentinel  and  the  Milwaukee  Daily  News  for 
making  too  free  with  his  official  troubles  with  the  insur 
ance  companies. 

Governor  LaFollette  himself  did  Trojan  work  on  the 
stump  that  fall.  Speaking  of  it  afterward  he  said: 
"For  forty-eight  days  I  was  on  the  stump,  with  only 
Sundays  out,  and  averaged  eight  hours  and  a  half  on  my 
feet,  and  then  there  were  thirty  counties  that  I  didn't  go 
into  at  all  from  choice.  You  see,  I  was  campaigning  for 
members  of  the  legislature.  I  went  into  those  counties 


410  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

only  where  I  thought  bad  men  ought  to  be  beaten  or  good 
men  elected.  I  ought  to  have  made  such  a  campaign  in 
1902,  but  there  were  other  complications  then.  In  1904, 
however,  I  determined  to  get  a  legislature  of  the  right 
kind.  It  was  nothing  to  me  to  be  governor  of  Wiscon 
sin  without  being  able  to  accomplish  anything. ' ' 

Some  further  idea  of  the  enormous  industry  of  LaFol- 
lette  in  this  campaign  may  be  formed  from  the  part  he 
took  in  the  publicity  feature  of  it  alone.  In  the  course  of 
the  campaign  that  year  1,160,000  pamphlets  were  sent 
out,  ten  to  each  of  160,000  voters.  And  Governor  La- 
Follette  himself  practically  wrote  all  these  pamphlets. 
One  was  blocked  out  by  Charles  K.  Lush  and  another  by 
Walter  L.  Houser,  but  both  were  rewritten  by  LaFollette. 
In  addition  to  this  he  prepared  a  speech  applicable  to 
each  county  he  visited  showing  the  freight  rates  in  Illi 
nois  and  Iowa.  In  this  enormous  work  the  compilation 
of  the  figures  was  done  by  Halford  E.  Erickson,  com 
missioner  of  statistics,  while  LaFollette  himself  worked 
out  the  comparisons.  The  other  pamphlets  included  one 
on  primary  elections,  a  roll  call  of  the  stalwart  members 
of  the  legislature  of  1903,  a  reply  to  E.  L,  Philipp's  "Red 
Book"  on  the  railroads,  a  parallel  column  exposure  of 
Amos  P.  Wilder,  editor  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Journal, 
and  one  entitled  "The  Truth  About  Incomes  and  Ex 
penses  of  the  Administration,"  and  others. 

On  the  evening  of  October  5,  the  day  the  supreme 
court  handed  down  its  decision  in  the  factional  case, 
Senator  Spooner  spoke  at  Milwaukee,  opening  his  cam 
paign  for  the  stalwart  ticket.  In  this  address  he  di 
rected  a  sharp  attack  against  the  primary  election  law, 
which  is  interesting  as  summing  up  the  objections  to  that 
measure.  In  part  he  said,  as  reported  in  the  Milwaukee 
Sentinel: 

For  myself,  I  do  not  intend  to  vote  for  this  primary  election 
law  which  is  now  pending  before  the  people.  It  is  radical.  I 
suppose  none  more  radical  has  ever  been  drafted.  I  would  have 


THE  SUPREME  COURT  DECISION  411 

voted  against  the  Stevens  bill  if  I  had  been  a  member  of  the 
legislature.  And  I  would  have  voted  for  the  Hagemeister  bill. 

I  do  not  like  this  proposition.  I  say  nothing  about  doubts  as 
to  its  constitutionality,  as  violating  the  constitutional  guaranty  of 
the  secrecy  of  the  ballot.  But  when  applied  to  a  large  area  like 
a  state  there  are  some  objections  which  are  printed  here;  most 
of  them  are  good: 

Because  the  voters  cannot  have  personal  knowledge  of  the  com 
parative  fitness  of  candidates  with  whom  they  are  not  acquainted, 
and  are  in  danger  of  voting  for  persons  who  are  unworthy  of  trust 
and  who  would  not,  if  known,  command  their  confidence  and  sup 
port. 

Because  the  system  necessarily  keeps  out  of  ofiice  everybody 
but  office-seekers  and  tends  to  swell  the  number  of  that  class. 

You  stop  to  think  about  that.  Under  this  system  no  office  can 
seek  the  man;  the  man  must  seek  the  office. 

No  man  finds  the  door  to  serve  the  public  unless  he  opens  it 
himself  or  hires  someone  to  do  it  for  him.  I  think  the  office- 
seeking  class  is  large  enough  now,  don't  you?  (Laughter  and 
applause.) 

Because  the  expense  of  making  a  canvass  to  secure  the  nomina 
tion  is  a  practical  bar  to  a  poor  man.  * 

Because  it  gives  the  rich  an  advantage  over  the  poor.  Because 
it  authorizes  nominations  by  minorities,  which  in  case  of  a  large 
number  of  men  for  one  office  may  be  only  a  small  fraction  of  the 
voters;  because  it  subjects  the  people  to  the  annoyance  and  burden 
of  two  campaigns  instead  of  one;  because  it  secures  to  men  in 
office  a  manifest  advantage  over  new  men  and  prevents  rotation. 
#  #  * 

This  thing  destroys  the  party  machine  which  is  to  fight  the 
enemy  and  substitutes  in  its  place  personal  machinery  for  every 
candidate  for  office.  Continuous  correspondence,  pictures  of  your 
self,  puffs  of  yourself,  the  reasons  why  you  are  the  best  fitted 
man  on  earth  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office,  and  then  the  next 
step  is  the  reason  why  your  leading  competitor  is  not  fit;  and  so 
you  get  an  atmposphere  of  scandal,  of  self-seeking,  of  rivalry, 
with  innuendo,  insinuation,  slander — we  are  getting  a  taste  of  it 
now  in  anticipation. 

The  appearance  of  E.  L.  Philipp's  so-called  ''Red 
Book"  entitled  "The  Truth  About  Wisconsin  Freight 
Rates,"  was  a  literary  event  of  the  campaign.  The 
great  battle  in  the  legislative  session  of  1903  over  the 


412  LAFOLLETTE' s  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

railway  commission  bill  had  ended  in  defeat  for  the  ad 
ministration.  Accordingly  Governor  LaFollette  had  a 
new  issue  to  carry  before  the  county  fairs  in  the  fall  of 
that  year  and  he  pressed  it  with  vigor.  To  make  it 
effective  he  had  tables  prepared  by  Halford  E.  Erickson, 
applicable  to  each  important  point  in  the  state  where  he 
spoke,  showing  that  the  people  of  Wisconsin,  which  state 
had  no  railway  commission,  were  paying  higher  freight 
rates  than  the  people  of  Iowa,  for  instance,  with  a  com 
mission  to  regulate  rates,  and  that  consequently  the  peo 
ple  of  Wisconsin  were  the  victims  of  discrimination. 
To  counteract  the  effect  of  these  speeches  and  that  of 
LaFollette 's  famous  address  at  the  Milton  Junction 
grange  January  29,  the  railroads  put  a  corps  of  expert 
statisticians  and  newspapermen  at  work  to  prepare  other 
tables  to  prove  either  the  falsity  of  LaFollette 's  state 
ments  or  the  erroneousness  of  his  conclusions,  as  the  case 
might  be.  For  each  city  where  LaFollette  spoke,  and 
at  many  points  where  he  did  not  appear,  such  tables  were 
prepared  and  were  printed  in  some  local  stalwart  paper, 
purporting  to  be  the  results  of  independent  investiga 
tions  of  such  paper. 

Milwaukee,  Oshkosh,  Madison,  LaCrosse,  Fond  du  Lac, 
Appleton,  Racine,  Janesville,  Rhinelander,  Monroe, 
Whitewater,  Green  Bay,  Ripon,  Hudson,  Platteville, 
Waupaca,  Necedah,  Wausau,  Kilbourn,  Lodi,  Wauwatosa 
—these  were  among  the  points  where  local  editors  seemed 
to  have  suddenly  discovered  a  passion  for,  and  a  famil 
iarity  wdth,  intricate  railway  statistics  that  would  have 
indicated  to  the  unsuspecting  mind  a  superior  order  of 
intelligence  in  the  Wisconsin  press  were  it  not  for  the 
similarity  of  the  articles  and  editorials  printed.  Columns 
upon  columns  of  .figures  were  presented.  Occasionally 
some  seemingly  obscure  or  misleading  statement  would 
be  taken  up  in  other  papers  for  further  elucidation  or 
discussion,  thus  giving  the  appearance  of  continued  in- 


THE  SUPREME  COURT  DECISION  413 

terest  in  the  subject.  Smaller  county  sheets  were  di 
rected  to  reprint  from  the  larger  ones  and  give  the  latter 
credit.  Thus  a  sort  of  endless  chain  was  set  in  motion. 
Unctuous  eulogies  of  railroads  that  had  been  used  in  the 
granger  railroad  fights  of  thirty  years  before  were  among 
the  not  wholly  unamusing  features  of  the  publication. 

The  "Red  Book,"  comprising  240  pages,  consisted  of 
clippings  of  these  articles  and  editorials  and  a  compari 
son  of  the  distance  tariff  rates  of  Iowa  and  Wisconsin. 
But  the  Wisconsin  rates  employed  by  Philipp  in  his  com 
parisons  were  not  the  same  rates  as  those  quoted  by  La- 
Follette  in  his  speeches  the  year  before,  and  thereby 
hangs  a  tale. 

Although  the  railroads  had  all  along  contended  that 
freight  rates  in  Wisconsin  were  as  low  as,  or  lower  than, 
those  in  Iowa,  just  before  New  Year's,  1904,  they  an 
nounced  that  rates  in  Wisconsin  would  be  reduced  at  the 
opening  of  the  year.  Particular  stress  was  laid  on  the 
announcement  that  coal  rates  would  be  reduced  25  cents 
a  ton.  And  certain  rates  were  reduced.  That  the  rail 
roads  were  making  a  bid  for  public  favor  thereby  and 
hoped  also  to  disarm  LaFollette  and  avert  further  state 
interference  by  their  action,  was  charged  by  the  admin 
istration  press.  The  Wi-sconsin  State  Journal  said: 

Naturally  the  question  is  asked  whether  political  agitation  has 
effected  these  reductions,  The  fact  that  the  railroads  refrained 
from  joining  issue  with  the  governor  when  he  was  making  his 
denunciatory  speeches  may  have  been  explained  by  the  intention 
of  revising  the  rates,  now  accomplished.  The  railroad  companies 
have  clever  men  as  well  as  the  political  world.  Nevertheless  the 
companies  are  building  not  for  a  day.  Governors  come  and  go, 
but  the  railroad  tracks  remain. 

The  reduction  of  rates,  however,  did  not  bring  about 
any  cessation  in  LaFollette 's  crusade  for  further  regula 
tion.  In  his  speech  at  Milton  Junction  in  January,  1904, 
soon  after  the  reductions  went  into  effect,  he  said : 

In  opposing  the  bill  to  create  the  railway  commission  with  power 
to  reduce  transportation  rates  on  state  traffic,  the  representatives 


414  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

of  the  railroad  companies  publicly  stated  before  the  railroad  com 
mittee  of  the  last  legislature  that  freight  rates  in  Wisconsin  were 
just  and  reasonable,  and  were  not  higher  than  the  Iowa  rates  estab 
lished  by  the  commission  in  that  state.  Day  after  day  and  week 
after  week,  these  railroad  lobbyists  assured  members  of  the  legis 
lature  that  no  discriminations  in  freight  charges  existed  against 
the  people  of  this  state  as  compared  with  the  neighboring  states 
where  railway  commissions  were  in  control. 

All  the  active  agencies  at  the  command  of  the  railroads,  lobbyists 
and  legislative  agents,  their  press  and  their  political  supporters, 
raised  the  cry  that  any  reduction  of  transportation  charges  would 
be  grossly  unfair  to  the  railroads,  under  whose  fostering  care 
Wisconsin  had  made  whatever  industrial  progress  it  had  attained; 
that  any  change  whatever  would  disturb  the  nicely-adjusted  bal 
ance  between  the  railroads  and  the  shippers  of  Wisconsin,  and 
that  prosperity  in  the  Badger  state  was  imperiled  by  this  uncalled 
for  attempt  to  reduce  rates  which  were  already  as  low  in  this  state 
as  they  could  possibly  be. 

The  awful  example  of  granger  legislation  was  revived,  and  the 
ghost  of  disaster  to  railroads  and  business  interests,  resulting  from 
the  granger  legislation,  again  stalked  over  the  state.  Superan 
nuated  politicians,  in  long-forgotten  and  enforced  retirement,  wero 
brought  forth  to  tell  over  and  over  again  their  harrowing  tale  of 
that  trying  period.  And  the  shippers  came,  too,  certain  of  them, 
and  joined  in  the  solemn  chant  that  rates  were  low  enough. 

But  the  state  did  not  rest  its  case  there.  The  evidence  whicli 
it  had  produced  in  overwhelming  mass  before  the  legislature,  was 
laid  before  the  people.  Summons  came  from  every  section  and 
corner  of  the  state  for  the  facts  and  figures  showing  the  exact 
discriminations  in  favor  of  Iowa  and  Illinois,  which  under  the 
appeals  of  the  railroads  and  their  lobby,  had  been  rejected  by  the 
legislature.  Whenever  men  were  gathered  together  they  called,  as 
you  have  called,  to  be  put  in  possession  of  the  facts  accumulated, 
showing  the  precise  rate  relation  existing  between  this  state,  where 
the  railroads  fix  transportation  charges,  and  Iowa  and  Illinois, 
where  the  state,  through  its  commission,  establishes  the  rate.  It 
became  clearly  manifest  to  the  railroads  before  the  county  fair 
had  closed,  that  their  protests  and  denials  that  there  were  no  dis 
criminations  against  Wisconsin,  which  had  prevailed  with  the 
legislature,  would  not  prevail  with  the  people.  Something  had  to 
be  done.  Conferences  were  called,  the  lobbyists  and  the  repre 
sentatives  of  corporations,  in  office  and  out  of  office,  were  sum 
moned,  and  a  new  course  of  action  determined  upon. 


THE  SUPREME  COURT  DECISION  415 

And  in  face  of  all  the  denials  that  there  were  any  discrimina 
tions,  of  the  solemn  declarations  that  no  disturbance  of  the  deli 
cately  adjusted  balance  could  by  any  possibility  be  suffered,  it  was 
decided  that  consistency  must  be  sacrificed — that  rates  must  be 
lowered. 

What  a  confession  this  whole  proceeding  makes!  How  com 
pletely  are  they  unmasked!  They  had  almost  sworn  that  Wiscon 
sin  rates  were  ( '  already  as  low  as  those  of  Illinois,  with  the  single 
exception  of  coal,  and  on  an  equality  with  those  of  the  state  of 
Iowa."  The  " situation  would  admit  of  no  change."  Eailroad 
interests  and  the  public  interests  alike  "could  not  by  any  pos 
sibility  stand  the  strain,"  and  yet,  in  the  hope  of  averting  ap 
proaching  defeat,  awed  at  last  by  the  power  of  public  opinion, 
ignoring  all  their  former  declarations,  repudiating  all  of  the  testi 
mony  which  they  presented  to  the  legislature,  and  which  their 
press  has  since  repeated  over  and  over  again,  they  have  at  last 
admitted  their  rates  too  high,  and  are  giving  up  to  the  people, 
for  the  time  being,  a  little  out  of  the  large  amount  which  they  are 
wrongfully  taking  from  them  day  by  day. 

I  am  glad  that  they  have  at  last  been  forced  to  concede  their 
rates  too  high.  While  the  amount  reduced  is  but  a  fraction  of 
the  immense  sum  they  are  wrongfully  taking  from  the  people  of 
Wisconsin,  it  completely  overturns  all  their  denials;  it  destroys 
the  value  of  all  their  testimony,  and  gives  away  their  entire  case. 

I  have  confidence  to  believe  that  the  people  will  discern  the 
hollowness  and  the  sham  that  goes  with  any  reductions  conceded 
at  this  time  with  the  hope  of  escaping  the  enactment  of  a  statute 
which  shall  put  an  end  for  all  time  to  extortionate  charges  and 
demoralizing  discriminations.  No  siren  song,  sung  in  double 
chorus  for  •'harmony"  and  "compromise,"  will  result  otherwise 
than  in  sacrificing  all  of  the  ground  gained  during  the  protracted 
struggle,  covering  now  almost  ten  years  of  time. 

The  "Red  Book"  led  to  the  appearance  of  a  similar 
but  smaller  pamphlet  issued  by  the  administration,  as 
stated,  to  refute  the  assertion  and  conclusions  of  the 
Philipp  publication. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

Incidents  in  Progress  of  Campaign. 

LINCOLN  STEFFENS  VISITS  MADISON — VINDICATES  COURSE  OF 
ADMINISTRATION — GOVERNOR  IN  STRENUOUS  CAMPAIGN — TYPICAL 
HARD  DAY  IN  NORTHERN  WISCONSIN. 

vjRIGINALITY  and  thoroughness  marked  many  fea 
tures  of  the  campaign,  particularly  on  the  part  of  the  ad 
ministration.  The  work  of  organization  was  carried  out 
to  the  finest  detail. 

In  the  course  of  his  campaigning  Governor  LaFollette 
had  obtained  the  most  complete  list  of  voters  in  the  state, 
perhaps,  that  any  politican  ever  had.  There  was  first 
an  emergency  list  of  live  and  influential  adherents  who 
could  be  relied  upon  to  jump  a  train  or  open  their  purses 
at  a  single  flash  when  needed, — a  splendid  militant  force 
of  some  1,500  or  more;  then  a  list  of  10,000  unquestioned 
supporters,  and  finally  a  large  list  of  100,000  or  more 
voters  to  whom  reasonable  appeal  for  aid  could  be  made. 
Nearly  every  one  was  set  down,  with  his  residence,  na 
tionality,  party,  age,  and  factional  bias  or  sympathy. 
However,  for  this  campaign  the  governor  determined 
upon  organization  based  on  the  smallest  political  units, 
the  school  districts.  John  M.  Nelson,  later  congressman, 
undertook  the  inauguration  of  this  comprehensive 
scheme.  In  every  school  district  of  the  state,  so  far  as 
practicable,  some  devoted  supporter  of  the  governor  was 
deputized  to  canvass  the  district,  keep  the  propagandic 
leaven  working  and  get  out  the  full  administration  vote. 
It  was  a  scheme  that  for  thoroughness  had  never  before 
been  approached  in  the  political  history  of  the  state  and 
which  in  general  gave  profitable  results. 

Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  activity  taken  by  out 
side  interests  in  the  campaign  was  revealed  some  years 


INCIDENTS  IN  PROGRESS  OF  CAMPAIGN  417 

later.  James  A.  Manahan,  the  well  known  Minnesota 
lawyer,  and  later  congressman,  while  prosecuting  a  case 
for  some  shippers  before  the  Minnesota  rate  commission, 
asked  a  representative  of  the  Hill  interests,  without,  he 
said,  expecting  any  results: 

''You  fellows  spend  some  money  in  politics,  don't 
you?" 

' '  Oh,  a  little, ' '  replied  the  witness. 

"Well,  you  spent  $50,000  to  defeat  LaFollette  for  gov 
ernor  of  Wisconsin  the  last  time  he  ran,  didn't  you?" 

"Oh,  no;  not  that  much." 

"Well,  you  sent  a  hundred  men  into  the  state  to  beat 
him,  didn't  you?" 

"No,  we  sent  only  sixty." 

*     *     * 

Soon  after  the  Chicago  convention  there  appeared  in 
Madison  an  interesting  personage  in  Lincoln  Steffens 
of  McClure  's  magazine,  the  man  who  paved  the  way  for 
the  flood  of  literature  of  exposure  that  was  sweeping  over 
the  land.  He  had  "written  up"  the  corruption  of  some 
of  the  great  cities  and  had  coined  the  term  "enemies  of 
the  republic"  as  most  applicable  to  public  officials  who 
served  private  interests  instead  of  the  people.  Echoes 
of  the  turmoil  in  Wisconsin  had  reached  to  New  York 
and  he  came  to  see  what,  the  noise  was  all  about.  The 
news  of  his  coming  created  a  flutter  in  both  camps  and 
he  was  eagerly  courted  by  both  sides.  As  if  to  prejudge 
his  conclusions,  both  sides  were  laudatory  of  his  past 
work  in  exposing  corruption  and  laying  on  the  lash  of 
censure.  The  stalwarts  professed  to  be  in  high  glee  at 
his  coming.  Here  was  a  man  of  trained  eye,  of  keen, 
discriminating  judgment,  of  unquestioned  courage  and 
disinterested  motives.  He  would  see  things  in  the  clear 
light  of  an  unprejudiced  outsider  and  lay  bare  the  hy 
pocrisy,  the  humbug,  the  insanity,  the  ignorance  of 
LaFolletteism  and  "reform,"  and  prick  the  bubble  with 

27 


418  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

his  satiric  pen.  The  administration  press  was  more  dis 
creetly  silent  and  calmly  awaited  his  findings.  He  spent 
hours  in  conference  with  leaders  of  both  factions.  The 
governor  gave  him  an  audience  and  the  stalwarts  dele 
gated  two  of  their  most  experienced  newspapermen,  Col. 
William  J.  Anderson  and  Amos  P.  Wilder,  to  present 
the  indictment  against  the  executive,  with  adjurations 
to  be  tactful.  Steffens  gave  no  hint  as  to  his  conclusions 
and  both  sides  were  probably  equally  unprepared  for  the 
unreserved  vindication  he  gave  the  LaFollette  cause  and 
his  equally  sweeping  indictment  of  the  stalwarts.  Tt  be 
came  the  literary  sensation  of  the  hour.  Steffens  was 
now  subjected  to  unmerciful  scoring  by  the  stalwart 
press.  Senator  Spooner  issued  a  five-column  reply  ex 
plaining  some  phases  of  his  political  life  on  which  Stef 
fens  had  reflected.  That  the  magazinist  had  fallen  be 
fore  the  hypnotic  power  of  the  governor  was  the  most 
charitable  explanation  of  the  stalwart  newspapers.  Said 
the  State  Journal: 

The  governor 's  hypnotic  powers  are  proverbial  and  even  Steffens, 
who  has  resisted  the  best  of  them  in  other  states,  proved  an  easy 
morsel  for  our  governor.  It  was  a  great  stroke  for  our  Bob  when 
he  put  his  hand  on  Steffens '  elbow  and  gathered  him  in.  Steffens 
yielded.  As  Mr.  Weller  said,  "I  didn't  think  you'd  a  done  it." 

»     *     * 

The  one  unfailing  string  on  which  LaFollette 's  enemies 
harped  in  season  and  out,  on  dull  days  and  exciting 
alike,  was  the  alleged  political  activity  of  the  game 
wardens.  The  sins  of  the  game  warden,  according  to 
these  critics,  comprehended  almost  the  complete  category 
of  human  iniquity,  and  it  was  actually  proved  by  the 
stalwarts  that  one  warden  had  once  drawn  thirty-one 
days'  pay  in  the  month  of  June.  This  fact  was  blazoned 
in  big  headlines  in  the  press  of  the  state  and  no  reply 
was  made  to  it  until  Attorney  General  Sturdevant  in  a 
speech  happily  observed  :  "The  railroads  have  defrauded 


INCIDENTS  IN  PROGRESS  OF  CAMPAIGN  419 

the  state  out  of  two  millions  in  taxes ;  the  stalwarts  reply 
that  one  game  warden  has  charged  a  day  over  time." 

There  was  double  reason  for  the  dislike  of  the  game 
wardens.  In  the  first  place  they  were  enforcing  the 
laws  with  reference  to  the  protection  of  game  with  the 
first  approach  to  anything  like  effectiveness  in  the  history 
of  the  state,  and  the  consequent  curtailing  of  time-hon 
ored  license  was  not  popular  in  many  sections  where  the 
law  had  long  been  winked  at.  In  the  second  place,  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  they  made  the  most  of  their  oppor 
tunities  for  political  proselyting  and  formed  an  army 
of  effective  propagandists.  One  of  them,  of  German  de 
scent,  visited  Rock  count}'  pretending  to  be  one  "Ole 
Olson,"  a  Norwegian  horse  buyer  from  Blue  Mounds, 
seeking  heavy  draft  horses.  He  carried  a  grip  marked 
"0.  0."  and  knowing  everyone  at  Blue  Mounds  and 
being  able  to  talk  Norwegian  he  was  not  suspected.  The 
northern  half  of  Rock  county  was  thus  organized  by  him 
before  the  stalwarts  learned  of  his  designs,  and  was 
carried  for  LaFollette. 

As  illustrating  the  awe  in  which  they  were  held,  a 
Madison  attorney  tells  this  story :  "I  was  holding  forth 
at  a  democratic  rally  in  Friendship,  Adams  county,  one 
night  and  in  the  course  of  my  remarks  made  a  statement 
which  caused  a  tall  individual  to  rise  up  in  the  audience 
and  sing  out,  'You're  a  liar!' 

"That's  pretty  plain  speaking,  thought  I,  but  as  the 
fellow  appeared  to  be  at  least  nine  feet  high  and  being 
but  half  that  myself  I  concluded  not  to  challenge  him  to 
settle  it  after  the  meeting  as  I  might  otherwise  have  done, 
but  asked  him  to  leave  the  hall  if  he  could  not  deport  him 
self  like  a  gentleman.  He  refused  to  do  so,  however, 
and  soon  afterward  again  arose  and  branded  me  a  liar. 
Again  at  my  request  he  refused  to  sit  down  or  leave  the 
hall,  so  I  turned  to  the  sheriff  of  the  county,  who  was 
sitting  on  the  platform  from  which  T  was  speaking,  and 


420  LAFOLLI: rn«;'s  WISHING  OF 

asked  him  to  put  the  fellow  out.  The  sheriff  was  a  demo 
crat,  too,  but  did  not  stir  at  my  request.  A  look  of  in 
credulity  passed  over  his  face  as  if  in  surprise  at  my  pre 
sumption  in  asking  such  a  thing,  and  turning  to  me  he 
whispered  hoarsely,  'Game  warden!7  : 

#     *     * 

The  so-called  rape  of  the  stalwart  supreme  court  briefs 
in  this  case  was  one  of  the  mild  sensations  of  the  time. 
These  briefs  had  been  prepared  with  great  thoroughness 
and  care  by  the  stalwart  attorneys  and  it  was  freely  pre 
dicted  by  the  stalwart  leaders  that  they  would  have  a 
powerful  effect  on  the  public  mind  when  finally  laid  be 
fore  the  supreme  court.  A  day  or  two  before  this  elabor 
ate  indictment  was  to  be  presented,  however,  the  stal 
wart  leaders  and  their  attorneys  were  struck  dumb  by 
finding  their  whole  argument  exposed  in  the  Milwaukee 
Free  Press.  All  the  points  of  their  briefs  were  published 
with  a  tantalizing  fullness  that  smote  them  with  rage 
and  despair.  In  some  manner  some  daring  and  resource 
ful  LaFollette  rapscallion  had  gained  access  to  the  com 
posing  room  of  the  State  Journal  at  Madison  and  had 
"pulled  a  proof"  of  the  plates  of  the  briefs  before  they 
had  been  printed  and  thus  prematurely  exploded  the 
whole  stalwart  argument.  While  it  made  little  differ 
ence  in  the  status  of  things,  and  was  of  little  practical 
value  to  the  LaFollette  cause,  perhaps,  it  was  a  source  of 
much  mortification  and  humiliation  to  the  stalwarts  as 
the  time  was  too  short  to  alter  the  briefs;  hence,  they 
were  submitted  to  the  court  as  originally  written.  But 
their  "thunder"  stolen,  it  was  "dead  news"  that  they 
thus  submitted  to  the  court  and  no  sensation  followed 

the  presentation. 

*     *     * 

In  the  sharp  warfare  that  was  waged  it  was  necessary 
at  times  to  resort  to  cipher  codes  and  other  devices  to 
prevent  leakage  of  communications.  Private  letters  to 


INCIDENTS  IN  PKCK;KESS  OF  CAMPAIGN  421 

the  governor  would  occasionally  become  the  property  of 
his  political  enemies  before  they  reached  his  hands,  some 
times  even  appearing  in  print.  It  was  often  next  to  im 
possible,  says  a  Milwaukee  authority,  to  get  into  tele 
phonic  communication  with  him  from  Milwaukee  and 
occasionally  when  the  desired  connection  would  be  made 
there  were  suspicious  indications  of  eavesdropping.  But 
those  who  had  occasion  to  talk  over  the  phone  with  the 
governor  in  those  days  will  recall  that  he  dropped  little 
on  which  the  enemy  might  profit ;  that  he  was  an  adept 
at  talking  in  significant  riddles.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
would  occasionally  "cut  loose"  in  reckless  spirit  and 
speak  out  regardless  of  consequences.  Telephone  con 
versations  were  frequently  carried  on  in  foreign  tongues. 
"I  brushed  up  my  German  in  great  shape  in  my  tele 
phone  talks  with  Milwaukee,"  said  one  half-breed  par 
tisan  afterward.  Even  the  dying  Welsh  tongue  did 
great  service  on  one  occasion  when  Assemblyman  Evans 
was  able  through  it  to  give  a  quick  and  vital  call  to 
a  capitol  messenger  to  round  up  a  missing  legislator. 

To  ensure  greater  secrecy  and  safety  in  dispatching 
of  important  letters  resort  was  had  to  unusual  devices. 
Frequently  letters  were  sent  by  express,  one  little  letter 
often  being  all  that  would  be  found  in  the  heart  of  a  big 
express  package.  It  sounds  incredible  at  this  day,  but 
occasionally  the  governor  would  receive  a  letter  stating 
that  another  letter  with  the  desired  matter  would  be 
found  in  an  express  package  sent.  Likewise  a  hand-to- 
hand  system  of  transmission  was  put  into  operation.  A 
baggageman  running  between  Milwaukee  and  Madison 
carried  letters  between  the  two  headquarters,  receiving 
them  from  a  messenger  at  one  end  and  giving  them  to 
another  messenger  at  the  other  end.  Frequently  the  tele 
phone  or  telegraph  between  two  points  would  be  used 
telling  of  the  sending  of  a  letter.  In  such  cases  of  course 
the  governor  himself  would  not  be  called  up ;  that  would 


422  LAFOLLKTTE'S  WINNING  ov  WISCONSIN 

not  do ;  but  some  lieutenant  would  receive  the  secret  word 
to  meet  a  certain  train. 

Kather  expensive  letter  writing  such,  but  war  is  costly. 

*  *     * 

Feeling  ran  so  high  that  occasionally  some  public 
speaker  found  discretion  the  better  part  of  valor.  A 
young  newspaperman  employed  by  the  stalwarts  was 
booked  to  speak  one  evening  in  a  small  town  in  Trem- 
pealeau  county.  As  he  sat  on  the  platform  waiting  for 
the  crowd  to  gather  he  noticed  that  a  large  block  of  seats 
directly  in  front  of  the  platform  had  been  reserved  for 
some  purpose  and  was  not  being  filled.  Just  before  the 
hour  of  opening  a  half  hundred  husky  Norwegians  came 
storming  in  and  boisterously  took  possession  of  the  re 
served  section.  Like  their  viking  forbears  of  old  each 
carried  an  enormous  circular  shield  which  bore  in  great 
letters,  "Roosevelt  and  LaFollette,"  and  ringing  cheers 
were  given  for  these  worthies  before  sitting  down.  The 
speaker,  as  he  afterwards  stated,  realized  that  he  was 
virtually  a  prisoner  of  war  and  cudgelled  his  brain  for 
some  tack  on  which  to  save  appearances.  A  happy  idea 
finally  seized  him.  He  saw  in  the  audience  the  high 
school  principal  of  the  town,  a  man  whom  he  had  known 
in  the  university.  Seizing  on  this  straw  he  began  with 
an  expression  of  his  pleasure  at  visiting  the  town  and 
seeing  again  an  old  college  friend.  Then  some  time  was 
spent  in  compliments  to  the  principal  and  in  dwelling  on 
the  value  of  higher  education  in  general,  following  which 
diplomatic  paving  he  discussed  the  political  situation 
in  a  largely  non-committal  manner  and  then  as  gracefully 
as  possible  left  the  platform  while  the  hall  rang  with  up 
roarious  demonstrations  for  LaFollette. 

*  *     * 

So  excited  did  people  become  that  democrats  as  well 
as  republicans  were  "set  by  the  ears."  Old  line  bour 
bons  "who  didn't  know  the  war  was  over"  and  who 


INCIDENTS  IN  PROGRESS  OF  CAMPAIGN  423 

hitherto  had  always  taken  ' '  their  politics  and  their  drinks 
straight ' '  allowed  themselves  to  be  bewitched  from  party 
idolatry  and  cracked  one  anothers'  heads  in  true  Kill- 
kenny  style  over  LaFollette. 

But  if  the  democrats  became  wrought  up  what  shall  be 
said  of  the  republicans?  Houses  were  divided  against 
one  another;  father  was  set  against  son,  brother  against 
brother,  and  even  sister  against  sister.  Business  part 
nerships  were  disrupted.  Children  of  opposing  factions 
occasionally  were  not  permitted  to  play  together,  the 
parents  of  the  one  side  regarding  the  children  of  the 
other  as  something  almost  unclean.  Dear  friends  were 
estranged  and  occasionally  husband  and  wife  came  near 
to  dangerous  points  of  disagreement.  Doubtless  the  case 
of  a  prominent  Madison  family  had  many  counterparts. 

In  this  instance  the  husband  was  an  ardent  LaFollette 
man  while  his  wife  chose  to  stand  by  her  father 's  family 
against  LaFolletteism.  Accordingly  the  husband  sub 
scribed  for  the  LaFollette  organ  and  swore  by  it,  while 
his  wife  read  assiduously  the  rival  organ  of  stalwartism 
and  declared  the  political  pabulum  it  provided  the  only 
bona  fide  manna.  Even  schoolgirls  were  caught  up  in  the 
exciting  whirl  and  many  a  father  was  put  in  a  dilemma 
by  quarreling  daughters  appealing  to  him  to  decide  be 
tween  the  merits  of  their  respective  causes  and  candi 
dates.  One  spirited  LaFollette  girl  in  Madison  per 
emptorily  ordered  out  of  the  house  a  stalwart  canvasser 
who  came  seeking  to  influence  her  father  and  to  secure 
her  wavering  sire  against  further  argument  she  called 
him  in  from  the  garden  and  read  him  a  lecture  on  his 
political  duty. 

It  may  sound  incredulous  and  ridiculous  at  this  day 
yet  it  is  literally  true  that  in  many  places  practically 
every  question  with  reference  to  men  and  policies  was 
considered,  if  not  settled,  in  the  light  of  its  connection 
with  LaFolletteism.  As  instinctively  and  unfailingly  as 


424  LAFOLI.KTTK'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

water  seeks  its  level  there  was  a  mental  balancing  on 
this  line  of  thought  whenever  any  query  came  up.  If  a 
man  stopped  at  a  postoffice  to  mail  a  letter  he  was  sus 
pected  of  conspiring  with  the  stalwart  postmaster.  Tf 
a  new  family  came  to  town,  its  factional  politics  was  first 
looked  up;  if  a  school  director  or  janitor  were  to  be 
chosen;  if  a  church  considered  the  election  of  a  new 
minister,  the  bogie  of  stalwart  ism  or  the  bugaboo  of  La- 
Folletteism  was  often  first  smoked  out.  All  university 
elections  from  president  down  to  golf  caddies,  it  is  said, 
were  determined  on  this  score ;  women  threw  their  shop 
ping  to  their  political  kin  and  when  it  came  to  choosing 
a  telephone  the  Madison  stalwarts  elected  the  Bell  (the 
corporation  service)  while  the  half-breeds  chose  the  in 
dependent  line  which  was  controlled  by  J.  C.  Harper, 
a  LaFollette  champion. 

But  if  LaFolletteism  led  to  tragic  divisions  and  es 
trangements  it  also  produced  the  comedy  of  queer  com 
binations  of  bed-fellows.  As  with  socialism,  the  LaFol 
lette  cause  enlisted  the  interest  and  support  of  the  pro- 
foundest  thinkers  and  the  most  sodden  unthinking.  At 
the  various  conferences  and  love  feasts  university  experts 
of  international  renown  rubbed  elbows  and  exchanged 
ideas  with  uneducated  workmen,  occasionally  to  mutual 
advantage,  and  in  the  common  ecstacy  at  one  victory  a 
Catholic  priest  and  a  high  Masonic  dignitary  actually  em 
braced  one  another  in  the  executive  chamber.  Imagine 
such  spectacle  in  any  other  land!  said  an  observer. 
These  were  the  disinterested  patriots.  But  in  addition 
to  them  and  the  great  mass  of  the  plain  country  and  town 
folk  who  had  no  other  concern  than  common  justice  and 
good  government,  many  were  drawn  into  the  camp 
through  ulterior  motives. 

Here  and  there  a  "sorehead"  from  the  ranks  of  priv 
ilege  came  over  in  order  to  get  even  with  Spooner  or 
someone  else  of  his  faction,  or  to  satisfy  some  private 


INCIDENTS  IN  PROGRESS  OF  CAMPAIGN  425 

grudge,  and  as  the  cause  waxed  in  strength,  the  office- 
seeker,  the  man  on  the  lookout  for  the  bandwagon,  the 
professional  patriot,  came  in  with  all  the  characteristic 
zeal  and  protestation  of  the  sudden  convert  and  too  often 
made  the  governor  inaccessible  to  the  supporter  of  real 

worth  and  influence. 

*     *     * 

During  this  exciting  period  friends  of  the  governor 
now  and  then  were  apprehensive  upon  two  points,  that 
he  might  break  down  physically  or  that  he  might  be 
made  the  victim  of  violence.  His  physicians,  his  rela 
tives  and  many  of  his  friends  importuned  him  not  to 
overtax  himself  or  take  any  undue  risks  of  any  other 
kind.  Yet  it  availed  little.  And,  as  one  of  his  friends 
said,  had  it  not  been  that  he  possessed  a  constitution  of 
Swedish  steel  and  an  unwearied,  unwavering  will  he 
could  not  have  borne  up.  He  seemed  possessed  of  the 
endurance  of  two  or  three  ordinary  men  although  he  was 
still  dieting  for  a  weak  stomach.  He  frequently  outwore 
one  or  two  automobiles.  One  day's  experience  may  give 
an  idea  of  the  ordeal  to  which  he  subjected  himself. 

This  typical  strenuous  day  was  one  experienced  in 
northern  Wisconsin.  It  began  with  a  35-mile  trip  by 
train  from  Shawano  to  Wittenberg,  at  which  latter  place 
he  spoke  for  an  hour  and  a  half  in  the  early  morning. 
Here  he  was  to  have  been  met  by  an  automobile  and  taken 
to  Mattoon,  another  distance  of  35  miles,  but  the  machine 
having  broken  down  he  resolved  to  make  the  trip  by 
team.  Much  of  the  road  was  new  and  was  laid  through 
dense  woods  with  an  occasional  long  stretch  of  corduroy 
to  bridge  over  wet  places.  A  35-mile  drive  under  most 
comfortable  circumstances  is  no  small  day 's  ' '  work ' '  for 
ordinary  men,  but  it  was  only  the  beginning  of  the  day's 
ordeal  for  the  governor.  After  speaking  an  hour  at 
Mattoon  he  set  out  for  Phlox  where  he  was  to  be  at  one 
o'clock  but  where  he  failed  to  arrive  until  6.  A  big 


426  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

crowd  of  farmers  had  waited  all  afternoon  to  see  him 
and  after  a  brief  talk  to  them  he  set  out  in  a  surrey  con 
taining  four  people  for  a  12-mile  drive  to  Polar  which 
was  reached  in  the  record  time  of  a  little  over  one  hour. 
After  speaking  nearly  an  hour  here  he  set  out  in  the  same 
surrey,  with  fresh  horses,  for  another  8-mile  drive  to 
Antigo.  It  was  now  pitch  dark  and  having  eaten  scarcely 
nothing  since  morning  the  governor  began  to  complain 
of  a  gnawing  hunger.  A  basket  lunch  that  had  been 
prepared  for  him  had  gone  astray  somewhere.  "I'm 
nearly  famished,  boys,"  he  said,  "I  can't  go  on  forever 
without  something  to  eat." 

High  upon  a  near-by  hill  a  small  light  was  seen  blink 
ing  dimly  in  the  inky  blackness  and  the  governor  and 
C.  0.  Marsh  tumbled  out  and  headed  for  it  in  quest  of 
food.  As  they  neared  the  house  a  large  dog  met  them 
savagely  and  it  was  with  much  difficulty  that  they  finally 
got  into  the  house  without  being  attacked  by  the  brute. 
It  proved  the  home  of  a  German  family.  The  farmer 
had  attended  the  governor's  meeting  and  had  not  yet 
gotten  back,  and  his  wife  was  unable  to  understand 
English.  In  response  to  a  request  for  some  bread  and 
butter  and  sour  milk  she  declared  in  her  native  tongue 
that  she  had  nothing  of  the  sort  in  the  house.  The  gov 
ernor's  eye,  however,  caught  sight  of  a  loaf  of  rye  bread 
on  the  table. 

' '  Can  I  have  that  ? "  he  asked  pointing  to  it. 

"Ja,"  replied  the  woman,  not  without  some  bewilder 
ment  at  the  prospective  raid  on  her  slender  resources. 

Seizing  the  loaf  the  governor  broke  it  across  the  middle 
and  with  his  hands  dug  out  the  soft  parts  of  the  inside 
and  laid  them  on  the  table,  tucking  the  crusts  under  his 
arm. 

' '  Have  you  any  eggs  ? ' '  asked  the  governor. 

"Nein,"  said  the  woman,  evidently  not  understanding 
him. 


INCIDENTS  IN  PKOGBESS  OF  CAMPAIGN  427 

"Ja,  Vir  haben  Zwei,  Mutter,"  said  one  of  the  little 
girls  of  the  family  who  understood  English,  and  held 
up  two  fingers. 

They  were  produced  forthwith,  and  dashing  a  little 
salt  and  pepper  on  them  the  governor  literally  threw 
them  down  his  throat  raw.  Then  giving  a  quarter  to 
each  of  the  little  girls  he  pulled  down  his  crush  hat, 
tucked  the  rye  crusts  under  his  arm  and  dashed  out 
again  into  the  darkness  to  beat  another  retreat  from  the 
dog  to  his  carriage. 

Antigo  was  reached  a  little  before  9:30.  Here  was 
gathered  an  audience  of  1,400  people  waiting  patiently 
to  hear  him.  Following  a  hasty  bath  and  a  change  of 
underwear  the  governor  then  spoke  for  nearly  three 
hours  and  was  given  an  immense  ovation. 

There  was  no  time  for  food  or  rest  following  the 
speech,  as  he  had  determined  to  take  the  first  train  for 
Milwaukee.  Those  who  had  accompanied  him  on  the 
nerve-racking  ordeal  of  the  day  were  completely  ex 
hausted  and  sought  their  beds  to  sleep  for  hours,  but 
not  so  the  governor.  Reaching  Milwaukee  he  sat  up  with 
friends  in  a  conference  there  until  time  to  take  a  train 
for  Madison  where  he  arrived  the  next  forenoon. 

*tt  was  while  on  a  similar  trip  in  this  vicinity  that  the 
governor,  like  the  fugitive  Alfred  of  old,  also  had  ap 
peared  incognito  at  a  farm  house  in  Shawano  county  and 
begged  a  drink  of  milk  and  a  bite  to  eat.  A  blooming 
daughter  of  the  household  waited  on  him  and  brought 
him  a  glass  of  rich,  creamy  milk.  "Ah,  that's  fine,." 
said  the  governor  enthusiastically  as  he  drained  it  off. 
"I  am  glad  you  like  it,"  said  the  girl,  "but  I  couldn't 
drink  it  if  I  was  paid  for  it." 

"Indeed!"  said  the  astonished  governor,  "and  what 
do  you  do  with  it  all  ?  I  see  you  have  a  lot  of  fine  cows 
here?" 


428  LAFOLLETTK'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

' '  Well, ' '  replied  the  girl  naively,  * '  we  give  a  good  deal 
of  it  to  calves." 

With  regard  to  personal  violence  the  apprehension 
was  even  greater,  and  many  marvel  to  this  day  that  he 
escaped  unscathed.  It  need  no  longer  remain  a  secret 
that  many  friends  even  feared  possible  assassination,  so 
tense  was  the  state  of  the  public  mind.  Yet  he  seemed 
absolutely  without  fear  and  to  utterly  disregard  the 
murmurs  and  warnings  of  friends.  Personal  violence 
against  representatives  of  authority  as  a  rule  has  come 
from  the  oppressed  classes  or  individuals  with  fancied 
grievances,  but  as  LaFollette  appeared  in  the  role  of 
"friend  of  the  under  dog"  there  was  perhaps  small  need 
of  apprehension  from  this  source,  and  the  powerful 
classes  against  which  he  directed  his  attacks  were 
cautious  in  their  attitude  toward  him,  knowing  his  habit 
of  having  every  charge  thoroughly  fortified  with  proof 
before  launching  it.  Said  one  of  his  friends : 

The  fact  is  he  kept  them  on  the  defensive.  In  the  vernacular, 
he  always  "had  them  on  the  jump."  The  lobbyists,  attorneys 
and  paid  henchmen  of  the  railroads  and  other  corporations  that 
fought  him  were  in  a  perpetual  nightmare  guessing  what  he  would 
do  next.  He  was  the  momento  mori  of  their  feasts,  a  specter  sure 
to  arise  and  impossible  to  lay  whenever  two  or  three  were  met  in 
privilege's  name.  As  a  rule  he  struck  at  some  totally  unexpected 
place. 

Yet  now  and  then  a  tense  situation  would  arise.  At  a 
small  place  in  Pierce  county  James  A.  Frear,  who  in 
troduced  LaFollette,  asked  a  prominent  citizen  to  shake 
hands  with  the  governor,  whereupon  the  man  turned 
away  with  the  remark  that  he  1 1  would  rather  shake  with  a 
yellow  dog. ' '  A  partisan  of  the  administration  promptly- 
whipped  off  his  coat  to  thrash  the  offender,  at  which  the 
governor  sprang  forward  and  laid  a  restraining  hand  on 
his  friend's  arm  and  thus  averted  possible  bloodshed. 

Governor  LaFollette 's  daring  charge  that  State  Sen 
ator  0.  W.  Mosher,  as  president  of  his  company,  had  re- 


INCIDENTS  IN  PROGRESS  OF  CAMPAIGN  429 

ceived  rebates  of  $90,000  from  a  railroad  company, 
caused  his  friends  to  have  some  apprehension  as  to  his 
safety  when  on  his  way  to  visit  Senator  Mosher's  home 
city  of  New  Richmond.  It  was  intimated  that  he  would 
be  met  with  violence  if  he  renewed  the  charge  there. 
LaFollette,  however,  renewed  the  charge  and  instead  of 
encountering  a  hostile  demonstration,  was  met  with 
applause.  It  is  interesting  to  note  here  that  in  the  later 
campaign  of  1910  Senator  Mosher's  successor  in  the  sen 
ate  was  one  of  two  democrats  who  pledged  themselves 
to  support  LaFollette  for  United  States  senator  in  the 
event  of  any  danger  of  his  defeat  in  the  legislature  by  a 
reactionary. 

At  many  places  the  governor  would  be  waited  upon 
by  leaders  and  delegations — friendly  and  hostile  alike — 
who  would  take  him  aside  and  ask  him  to  modify  his  ad 
dress  at  their  particular  place  so  as  to  not  unduly  offend 
certain  prominent  citizens  or  interests  of  their  town 
among  whom  his  issues  were  not  popular.  Occasionally 
they  would  argue  strenuously  for  their  point,  but  as  a 
rule  the  governor  would  reply:  "I  must  make  my 
speech  in  my  own  way  whether  it  hurts  anyone  or  not. 
I  propose  to  hew  to  the  line.  This  is  no  time  for  bou 
quets  or  soft  words.  We  are  getting  none." 

An  interesting  and  typical  meeting  was  that  at  Ells 
worth  in  Pierce  county.  As  was  often  the  case  elsewhere, 
the  stalwarts  had  engaged  the  main  hall  in  the  city,  not 
for  a  meeting  but  to  prevent  the  governor  from  getting  it, 
and  had  drilled  their  local  workers  to  induce  as  many 
people  as  possible  to  keep  away  from  the  LaFollette 
meeting.  A  small  hall  was  secured  for  the  governor. 
Not  only  was  it  quickly  filled,  but  the  throng  extended 
far  into  the  street.  Many  crowded  into  the  windows, 
stood  up  by  the  walls,  or  hung  from  clothes  hooks  through 
a  long  three  hour  speech  filled  with  statistics,  yet  which 
they  cheered  throughout.  The  governor  departed  some- 


430  LAFOLLETTK'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

what  from  his  usual  practice  by  here  calling  attention  to 
the  fact  that  he  didn't  have  horns  and  referring  to  the 
tactics  of  the  local  stalwart  leaders  and  to  the  newspaper 
abuse  to  which  he  was  being  subjected. 

"I  don't  mind  it  for  myself,"  he  said,  ""but  I  have 
two  boys  and  two  girls  whom  I  love  as  dearly  as  life 
itself,  and  I  sometimes  feel  a  regret  that  when  I  am  gone 
they  shall  read  in  the  files  of  the  newspapers  what  was 
said  of  me.  But  my  enemies  cannot  swerve  me  from  my 
course  nor  make  me  quit  this  contest  by  abuse.  Why,  if 
I  should  die  now  you'd  have  to  bury  me  standing  up/' 
(Tumultuous  applause.) 

How  LaFollette  was  able  to  swing  even  hide-bound 
voters  from  the  opposing  party  is  recalled  in  a  little  inci 
dent  in  Pierce  county.  Assemblyman  A.  H.  Dahl  was 
canvassing  the  county  and  suggested  to  his  driver  that 
they  stop  at  the  house  of  a  certain  democrat  while  pass 
ing.  The  farmer  was  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away  in  the 
fields.  ' '  It 's  no  use, ' '  said  the  driver,  ' '  you  'd  have  your 
climb  up  that  hill  for  nothing.  He's  rabid,  and  you 
couldn't  do  anything  with  him  in  a  hundred  years." 
Nevertheless  Dahl  went  to  see  the  farmer  and  was  very 
pleasantly  surprised  to  learn  that  he  intended  to  go  to 
the  republican  caucus  and  vote  for  LaFollette  delegates. 
"Yes,  sir;  I  heard  him  this  morning,"  he  said  (LaFol 
lette  had  spoken  for  half  an  hour  at  the  schoolhouse  at 
7  o'clock  that  morning)  "and  he's  got  the  right  ideas. 
I  believe  in  backing  him  up." 

"Well,"  said  the  surprised  driver  when  Dahl  returned, 
1 '  how  did  you  do  it  ?  We  never  could  touch  him  before. ' ' 


CHAPTER  XXX 
Rival  Factions  in  the  Field. 

SHARP  CAMPAIGN  PRESSED  BY  BOTH  SIDES — LAFOLLETTE 
ADOPTS  AUTOMOBILE  PLAN  OF  TRAVEL — LAFOLLETTE  AND  A.  K. 
HALL  SPEAK  AT  MILWAUKEE — COOK  WITHDRAWS  FROM  TICKET 
AND  SCOFIELD  SUBSTITUTED — INCIDENTS  OF  FAST  AND  FURIOUS 
FINISH. 

r  ERTILE  in  resources,  LaFollette  conceived  the 
hitherto  unusual  idea  of  employing  an  automobile  for 
campaign  purposes.  His  experiences  with  special  trains 
had  been  expensive  and  not  altogether  satisfactory.  Be 
sides  the  railroads  were  now  making  war  on  him  and  he 
was  not  disposed  to  ask  any  favors  of  them.  Many  timid 
and  old-fashioned  people  feared  for  his  safety  or  shook 
their  heads  in  disapprobation  at  this  departure,  while 
the  stalwarts  sought  to  turn  it  to  political  account.  ' '  Be 
hold  this  proof  of  insincerity,"  they  cried;  "here  is  the 
pretended  champion  of  the  poor  and  down-trodden  using 
an  automobile,  the  devil  wagon,  the  toy  of  the  rich! 
What  inconsistency!"  The  idea  was  to  attach  to  the 
governor  by  association  the  prejudice  then  existing  in 
the  rural  mind  against  automobiles.  It  proved  him  at 
heart  not  in  sympathy  with  the  common  people,  "God's 
patient  poor, ' '  they  declared.  Departing  from  his  usual 
course,  the  governor  once  took  occasion  to  notice  these 
tactics.  After  setting  forth  the  abuses  that  existed  in 
the  political  and  commercial  life  of  the  state,  he  said  in 
his  speech  at  Mazomanie : 

And  that  is  why  I  am  traveling  about  in  this  way,  by  train,  by 
carriage,  by  automobile — any  way  to  get  there — to  tell  you  and 
the  people  of  the  state  of  these  things.  I  want  to  reach  as  many 
people,  and  as  quickly,  as  I  can,  and  if  airships  were  available 
I'd  use  them  also. 


432  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Here,  also,  the  governor  talked  intimately  as  to  old 
neighbors,  and  among  the  notes  taken  down  by  a  reporter 
who  was  present,  but  which  were  not  published,  were 
the  following: 

If  I  didn't  feel  deeply  upon  this  subject  (his  reform  program) 
do  you  suppose  I  would  have  devoted  my  life  to  it  all  these  years, 
to  have  taken  the  heart  out  of  my  profession,  and  to  have  per 
mitted  my  health  to  be  broken  down  three  times  already?  No,  to 
this  cause  of  taking  the  government  out  of  the  hands  of  a  priv 
ileged  few  and  bringing  it  back  to  the  people,  I  will  give  all 
there  is  iij  me  until  it  is  accomplished.  It  is  not  the  salary  of 
$5,000  a  year  I  am  after.  When  I  went  into  this  thing,  I  was 
already  earning  $10,000  a  year  and  had  more  calls  from  all  parts 
of  the  state  to  help  other  attorneys  than  I  could  possibly  meet. 
I  could  have  gone  to  Chicago  any  day  as  a  corporation  attorney 
for  $15,000  a  year,  and  I  believe  I  could  earn  that  now,  and 
more,  if  I  chose. 

Now,  our  opponents  may  tell  you  a  different  story,  but  the  fact 
is  that  the  salary  I  am  now  drawing  is  not  enough  to  keep  my 
family  and  myself  going.  You  see  I  have  to  put  a  good  deal 
into  the  game  myself  to  keep  up  the  cause,  and  we  must  order  our 
living  and  conduct  the  business  of  the  state  in  a  dignified  manner. 
Why,  if  I  didn't  have  a  chance  to  go  out  every  summer  on  the 
chautauqua  platform  and  earn  $3,000  we  would  be  in  debt  $12,000 
at  the  end  of  four  years.  We  try  to  live  economically,  but  at 
that  we  have  put  by  the  chance  to  lay  up  anything  for  our  chil 
dren 's  future.  We  understand  each  other  at  home;  we  have 
talked  it  all  out  and  are  agreed.  I  wish  to  leave  something  to  the 
state  more  lasting  than  bronze  or  marble  and  a  better  legacy  to 
my  children  than  mere  wealth.  And  I  am  not  going  to  be  swerved 
from  my  purpose;  I  have  been  called  many  names,  but  never  a 
quitter.  These  great  principles  for  which  we  are  contending  are 
eternally  right  and  can't  be  killed  off.  Neither  do  I  propose  to 
be.  Why,  if  I  should  be  defeated  the  eighth  of  next  November, 
you  will  find  me  out  early  on  the  morning  of  the  ninth  on  a  new 
campaign. 

#      *      * 

The  story  of  the  acquisition  of  this  machine, — the 
"Red  Devil,"  as  it  was  derisively  called, — for  the  gov 
ernor's  use  is  an  interesting  one,  but  need  not  here  be 
given.  When  the  governor  set  out  with  it  September  1, 


RIVAL  FACTIONS  IN  THE  FIELD  433 

he  was  accompanied  by  his  two  sons,  his  secretary,  Col. 
John  J.  Hannan,  and  a  chauffeur.  Several  speeches  were 
made  that  day,  the  first  being  at  Dale  at  8  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  Hortonville,  Shiocton  and  Appleton  being  the 
other  places  visited.  Already  on  the  first  day  out,  said 
the  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  the  governor  had  caused  two 
runaways  and  endangered  the  life  of  one  woman  going 
to  market  in  the  morning.  But  this  method  of  travel 
proved  most  effective  for  the  governor's  cause.  With 
a  machine  he  could  rapidly  criss-cross  a  county  on  the 
eve  of  legislative  caucuses  and  make  many  more  speeches 
than  if  he  depended  on  trains. 

There  were  many  amusing  sides  to  this  method  of  cam 
paigning.  One  day  he  drove  overland  from  Mt.  Horeb 
to  the  Mazomanie  meeting  already  referred  to,  nearly 
twenty  miles,  in  a  drizzling  rain.  He  was  late  in  arriv 
ing  and  talked  beyond  his  set  time  limit.  In  order  that 
he  might  reach  his  next  town  as  nearly  as  possible  on 
time  he  had  to  forego  a  dinner  the  citizens  of  Mazomanie 
had  arranged  for  him  and  when  he  left  town  it  was  with 
a  rubber  hat  pulled  down  over  his  head,  a  bottle  of  honey 
in  one  pocket  of  his  dripping  raincoat,  the  gift  of  a  Mazo 
manie  woman,  and  a  glass  fruit  can  of  milk  in  his  hands. 

The  governor's  habit  of  carrying  around  milk  bottles 
with  him  on  his  auto  trips  led  to  the  brilliant  idea  by 
Dr.  Fred  Wilkins  of  Viroqua  of  attaching  a  rubber  tube 
to  a  bottle  so  that  the  governor  could  drink  with  less 
danger.  The  governor  laughingly  demurred  at  this  gift. 
"But  you  will  have  your  teeth  knocked  out  some  time 
on  these  rough,  roads,  if  you  don't,"  said  the  insistent 
physician.  The  governor  finally  consented  to  accept  this 
new  device.  "But  don't  you  dare  tell  the  newspapers 
about  this,"  said  he,  "or  it  will  be  all  off  with  me." 

Occasionally  there  would  be  several  autos  filled  with 
friends  and  lieutenants  in  his  party.  If  the  governor's 
machine  chanced  to  get  clogged  with  mud,  as  not  infre- 


434  LAFOLLETTK'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

queutly  happened,  he  would  climb  into  another  and  go 
on,  and  this  process  would  be  repeated  until  he  reached 
his  destination.  In  this  way  he  arrived  in  the  little  town 
of  Deerfield  two  hours  behind  time  one  dismal  October 
day.  The  crowd  was  still  waiting  as  he  climbed  stiffly 
out  of  his  machine. 

The  governor  had  put  in  one  of  his  most  strenuous 
days  of  campaigning.  The  party  included  Governor 
LaFollette,  his  private  secretary,  Colonel  Hannan,  A.  M. 
Stondall,  candidate  for  state  senator;  John  M.  Nelson, 
and  the  two  chauffeurs,  L.  F.  Schoelkopf  of  Madison  and 
William  King  of  Whitewater.  A  raw  southwester  was 
blowing  and  a  fine  rain  fell  most  of  the  afternoon,  with 
a  " heavy  and  coarse  article"  at  Marshall,  as  Colonel 
Hannan  put  it. 

A  big  crowd  had  gathered  at  Deerfield  in  the  afternoon 
in  anticipation  of  seeing  the  governor.  Farmers'  teams 
lined  both  sides  of  the  streets,  and  the  red-wristed  to 
bacco  growers  of  the  neighborhoocTtap'ped  fRe  slushy 
sidewalks  with  their  toes  and  cracked  jokes  to  while  away 
the  time.  Secretary  A.  T.  Torge  of  the  county  commit 
tee,  tried  by  telephone  to  learn  the  whereabouts  of  the 
missing  party.  A  brass  band  also  tried  to  keep  things 
lively.  When  it  became  apparent  that  the  governor 
would  be  late,  A.  R.  Denu  of  Madison,  whom  Mr.  Torge 
took  along  for  such  an  emergency,  was  asked  to  give  a 
short  talk.  He  spoke  for  an  hour  and  a  half  on  state 
issues,  being  warmly  applauded  when  he  closed.  Still 
the  farmers  waited,  although  they  complained  of  neg 
lected  chores.  Finally  at  5  o'clock  the  party  came  in. 
The  governor  wore  a  mackintosh  shoulder  cape  over  his 
overcoat,  and  a  small  flat  hat,  and  the  entire  party  was 
spattered  with  mud  from  head  to  foot.  Grim  and  be 
spattered  as  the  governor  looked,  the  people  could  not 
restrain  a  shout  of  laughter  at  the  sight,  whereat  he 
smiled. 


RIVAL  FACTIONS  IN  THE  FIELD  435 

"That  you,  Bob?"  said  aii  admirer,  slapping  him 
familiarly  on  the  shoulder.  "It's  me  when  you  get 
through  the  mud,"  replied  the  bluff  hero  ungrammat 
ically. 

The  governor  was  intent  on  going  straight  on  to 
Stoughton,  and  promised  to  come  again  to  Deerfield. 
However,  he  was  finally  persuaded  to  go  up  to  the  hall 
and  say  * '  hello ' '  to  the  people.  The  crowd  swarmed  in, 
packing  the  hall.  In  his  spattered  mackintosh  he 
mounted  the  stage  amid  shouts  and  laughter  at  the  un 
usual  spectacle.  He  apologized  for  the  delay,  told  amus 
ing  incidents  of  it,  regretted  that  he  could  not  speak 
longer  to  his  good  Scandinavian  friends  and  promised 
to  come  again  to  Deerfield.  This  with  a  season  of  hand 
shaking  satisfied  the  crowd.  __ 

The  governor  was  inclined  to  push  on  at  once,  but 
finally  took  a  hasty  supper  with  the  other  hotel  boarders, 
then  got  into  a  double  rig  with  Mr.  Nelson  and  Mr.  Torge 
and  set  out  sixteen  miles  overland  to  Stoughton  in  the 
dark,  the  driver  being  ' '  Jake ' '  Robinson,  a  trusted  Jehu 
of  the  village.  In  their  hurry  they  carried  away  a  travel 
ing  man's  grip  and  he  wired  them  to  have  his  nightshirt 
for  him  at  Delavan  next  day  or  there  would  be  trouble. 

"Where's  Colonel  Hannan?"  someone  asked  the  gov 
ernor. 

"Oh,  we  left  him  on  top  of  a  hill  some  miles  back, 
waiting  for  his  machine  to  catch  up  with  him, ' '  said  the 
governor.  "He  looked  like  the  statue  of  the  Colossus 
of  Rhodes  as  he  stood  and  sorrowfully  watched  us  go  by. ' ' 

A  carriage  was  sent  out  and  brought  the  portly  mili 
tary  secretary  of  Wisconsin  in  at  7  o'clock.  Then  there 
was  fun  as  he  swaggered  about  and  cracked  jokes  upon 
"the  sacred  soil  of  Dane  county." 

"There  may  be  other  issues  in  this  campaign,"  he 
said,  peeling  the  mud  off  his  hat,  "but  I  think  the  para- 


436  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

mount  issue  is  how  to  get  an  automobile  through  on 
time." 

Another  rig  was  sent  out  to  bring  in  the  stranded  Mr. 
King.  The  auto  was  hitched  to  the  back  of  the  buggy 
and  finally  all  were  in  Deerfield. 

Mr.  Denu  was  sent  on  to  fill  the  governor's  date  at 
Cambridge.  Mr.  Hannan  and  Mr.  Stondall  came  .on  to 
Madison  by  train,  while  the  two  chauffeurs  remained  in 
Deerfield  over  night  and  brought  their  machines  back. 

At  4  o'clock  next  morning  Colonel  Hannan  took  a  train 
for  Stoughton  to  join  the  governor  in  Jefferson  county. 

"I  tell  you  this  business  of  campaigning  ain't  a  downy 
bed  of  ease,"  he  said. 

The  governor 's  visit  to  Elkhorn,  the  seat  of  the  strong 
stalwart  county  of  Walworth,  was  made  a  notable  occa 
sion.  While  one  of  the  capitals  of  stalwartism,  Elkhorn 
nevertheless  had  an  enthusiastic  little  group  of  admin 
istration  supporters  and  these  supporters  determined  to 
make  his  welcome  specially  cordial.  They  even  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  promise  to  have  the  schools  dismissed  that 
the  children  might  see  the  governor  and  share  in  the 
general  holiday.  It  was  felt  that  their  presence  would 
add  to  the  cordiality  of  the  welcome  to  be  given  the  dis 
tinguished  guest,  so  arrangements  were  made  to  dismiss 
them  on  the  arrival  of  the  governor's  train. 

However,  a  report  reached  the  school  that  the  train 
was  late  and  would  not  reach  Elkhorn  for  some  hours. 
If  the  purpose  of  the  report  was  to  prevent  the  children 
from  joining  in  the  welcome  to  the  governor  it  succeeded 
well  as  the  schools  remained  in  session  until  noon.  In 
the  meantime  the  governor's  train  had  come  in  on  time. 

But  the  children  were  not  to  be  beaten  out  of  their 
holiday.  The  teachers  returned  to  the  schoolhouse  in 
the  afternoon,  but  not  so  the  pupils,  so  school  was  de 
clared  off  for  the  remainder  of  the  day.  When  the  high 
school  principal,  Prof.  Thomas  J.  Jones,  later  appeared 


RIVAL  FACTIONS  IN  THE  FIELD  437 

at  the  political  meeting  he  was  escorted  to  a  seat  on  the 
platform  at  the  front  to  the  great  merriment  of  his 
pupils,  who  were  already  in  the  hall. 

At  Neenah,  October  27,  was  presented  the  interesting 
spectacle  of  two  rival  republican  meetings,  one  ad 
dressed  by  Governor  LaFollette,  the  other  by  M.  G.  Jef- 
fris,  the  stalwart  spellbinder.  The  same  day  a  similar 
spectacle  was  presented  at  Green  Bay  in  a  republican 
meeting  addressed  by  LaFollette  on  one  hand,  and  an 
other  addressed  by  Congressman  Theodore  Burton  of 
Ohio,  under  the  auspices  of  the  national  republican  com 
mittee,  three  brands  of  republicanism  being  thus  ex 
ploited  in  the  valley  of  the  Fox  that  day.  The  managers 
of  the  paper  mills  and  other  factories  refused  to  close 
the  shops  and  let  the  workmen  hear  the  governor,  but 
closed  them  for  the  Jeffris  meeting.  At  this  J.  H.  Denn- 
hardt,  a  LaFollette  supporter,  organized  a  group  of 
school  children  which  cheered  LaFollette  at  the  Jeffris 
meeting. 

At  Oconomowoc  November  2,  the  governor  took  ad 
vantage  of  the  presence  in  the  audience  of  one  Adam 
Blanchard  to  say  that  his  delegates  had  been  bought 
away  from  him  in  the  state  convention  of  1896  and  that 
Blanchard  was  one  of  the  men  who  was  offered  a  bribe 
and  refused  it.  At  this  statement  Blanchard  arose  and 
said:  " Every  word  of  that  is  true,  as  there  is  a  living 
God." 

Keenly  appreciating  its  value  as  a  political  stroke  on 
the  eve  of  election  the  administration  on  October  31  is 
sued  a  statement  that  all  state  taxes  of  the  coming  year 
would  be  remitted.  This  was  one  of  its  practical  replies 
to  the  stalwart  charges  of  extravagance  in  state  affairs. 
Attention  was  also  called  to  the  fact  that  the  taxes  of 
the  previous  year  likewise  had  been  remitted.  In  addi 
tion  the  statement  was  made  that  the  estimated  increase 
in  railway  taxation  for  the  year  1905  would  be  $659,000. 


438  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Governor  LaPollette  had  also  recently  ordered  that  suits 
be  brought  against  the  railroads  for  unpaid  back  taxes 
of  which  Railroad  Commissioner  Thomas  had  reported 
the  discovery.  In  order  to  counteract  the  effect  of  this 
stroke  of  the  administration  the  stalwart  press  printed  a 
story  the  following  day  that  the  state  treasury  was  short 
by  $235,000.  To  strike  the  balance  of  truth  between 
such  and  other  conflicting  statements  and  claims  were 
among  the  problems  thus  presented  to  the  voter  who  felt 
an  interest  in  them. 

In  the  closing  week  of  the  campaign  LaFollette  on 
three  successive  nights  made  five  addresses  in  the  city  of 
Milwaukee,  the  last  one  in  the  Exposition  building, — the 
scene  of  his  first  convention  triumph, — before  what  was 
pronounced  one  of  the  largest  political  audiences  ever 
assembled  in  the  state.  This  last  meeting  had  a  unique 
interest  from  the  fact  that  Albert  R.  Hall  spoke  from  the 
same  platform  with  the  governor,  opening  the  speech- 
making  with  a  plea  for  LaFollette.  It  was  perhaps  the 
first  and  only  time  in  which  these  two  men,  the  pre 
eminent  leaders  in  the  Wisconsin  revolution,  appeared 
together  before  an  audience.  In  scarcely  more  than  six 
months  LaFollette  was  to  stand  beside  the  open  casket 
of  his  resolute  patriot  friend  and  pronounce  a  eulogy 
upon  him.  It  was  in  this  Milwaukee  speech  that  LaFol 
lette  "named  the  men"  in  connection  with  his  charge  of 
bribery  at  the  convention  of  1896. 

The  same  night  a  unique  speech  was  made  at  Kenosha 
by  Charles  Quarles,  brother  of  Senator  Quarles,  who  cited 
the  "twenty  sins  of  LaFollette,"  among  which  were 
named  extravagance,  money  from  book  companies,  game 
warden  abuses,  the  Kempf  entanglement,  slandering  of 
the  state,  debauching  of  the  university,  packing  of  the 
supreme  court,  Chautauqua  lecturing,  dictation,  stealing 
of  state  conventions,  etc.,  all  formally  set  forth  in  legal 
impeachment  phrase.  In  an  address  some  days  before 


RIVAL  FACTIONS  IN  THE  FIELD  439 

Congressman  Cooper  had  referred  to  "the  party  of  Lin 
coln,  Grant,  McKinley  and  LaFollette. "  il  Could  there 
be  a  better  anti-climax?"  exclaimed  Quarles.  " Lincoln 
to  LaFollette!  Hyperion  to  a  satyr!  Lincoln,  with 
malice  toward  none;  with  charity  to  all.  LaFollette, 
with  venom,  vengeance  and  vituperation!" 

Governor  LaFollette  was  scheduled  to  close  this  nerve- 
racking  campaign  with  a  speech  to  the  university  stu 
dents  and  his  townspeople  at  the  university  gymnasium 
the  Saturday  night  before  election.  Col.  Hugh  Lewis,  a 
one-armed  veteran  and*  ardent  partisan  of  the  governor, 
was  chosen  to  preside  at  the  meeting.  Realizing  this 
would  be  a  remarkable  occasion,  he  arranged  to  have  it 
marked  with  certain  distinctive  features,  one  of  which 
was  to  seat  on  the  platform  with  other  ' '  prominents "  a 
half  hundred  old  soldiers  as  a  living  refutation  of  the 
charge  that  the  governor  did  not  have  the  good  will  of 
the  veterans. 

The  governor  was  met  at  the  station  by  Colonel  Lewis 
and  others,  who  found  to  their  dismay  that  he  was  so 
hoarse  that  he  could  scarcely  talk.  They  thought  of  the 
splendid  audience  that  would  await  him  and  of  the  disap 
pointment  if  he  should  not  be  able  to  speak.  Rushing 
him  to  the  executive  residence,  they  spent  about  ten 
minutes  flushing  his  throat  and  then  set  out  for  the  gym 
nasium,  already  late  for  the  meeting  and  where  they 
found  a  constantly  growing  crowd  that  filled  the  great 
hall  to  the  doors.  Again  they  thought  of  that  lost  voice. 

But  again  was  the  governor  to  prove  a  surprise.  In 
the  presence  of  his  splendid,  inspiring  and  sympathetic 
audience  his  hoarseness  soon  disappeared  and  he  spoke 
with  remarkable  power  for  two  and  three-quarters  hours. 
"Dangerous,**  said  Colonel  Lewis,  shaking  his  gray  head 
afterward.  "I  wish  he  wouldn't  take  such  chances  on 
killing  himself.  One  hour  would  have  been  enough." 

No  one  who  heard  that  speech  is  apt  to  soon  forget  it. 
Unfortunately  no  stenographic  report  of  it  has  come 


440  LAFOIXKTTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

down.  Even  the  Milwaukee  Free  Press  carried  only  a 
scant  notice  of  it.  One  of  its  striking  features  was  the 
governor's  merciless  arraignment  of  great  oil  monop 
olies  for  their  gross  violations  of  law  and  morals. 

Not  often  does  LaFollette  abandon  the  careful  phrase 
and  familiar  climax,  but  on  this  occasion  he  seemed  fired 
by  some  higher  inspiration — the  spontaneous  eloquence 
of  righteous  passion — as  he  depicted  the  onward  progress 
of  one  such  commercial  monster — not  alone  in  its  larger 
public  sins  of  demanding  rebates,  of  seizing  railroads  or 
compelling  them  to  conspire  with  it,  of  ruthlessly  grab 
bing  the  coal  and  oil  fields  of  Pennsylvania,  of  wrecking 
towns  to  build  up  others  and  destroying  rivals  to  seize 
their  business ;  but,  more  reprehensible  still,  how  step  by 
step  it  had  stalked  over  the  oil  fields  of  Ohio  and  Indiana, 
crushing  out  the  small  independent  refiners,  evicting 
from  their  lands  farmers  too  poor  to  fight  for  their  prop 
erty,  driving  out  widows  and  orphans  whose  only  sin  was 
living  in  their  own  homes  and  within  the  law,  and  leav 
ing  in  its  wake  a  trail  of  poverty,  insanity  and  suicide — 
all  this  he  poured  forth  in  a  towering  climacteric  of  pas 
sion  that  swept  his  responsive  audience  up  to  inspired 
heights. 

It  was  an  indictment  such  as  in  olden  time  would  have 
sent  a  Roman  audience  out  sword  in  hand,  and  an  Athe 
nian  to  cry,  "Let  us  go  against  Philip!"  Not  here  had 
any  apologist  dared  suggest  the  defense  always  urged, 
that  such  practices  had  at  least  cheapened  the  price  of 
the  product. 

"What  shall  we  do?"  asked  the  editor  of  the  State 
Journal  distractedly  of  Judge  Keyes  the  Monday  morn 
ing  following.  "It  was  a  speech  that  made  votes;  it 
made  votes!" 

On  the  same  evening  Senator  Spooner  addressed  a 
great  audience  in  Milwaukee.  In  spite  of  the  supreme 
court's  decision  that  the  LaFollette  ticket  was  entitled 


RIVAL  FACTIONS  IN  THE  FIELD  441 

to  the  place  of  regularity  on  the  official  ballot,  he  pref 
aced  his  speech  with  the  declaration,  "I  represent  here 
tonight  what  is  called  the  opera  house  platform,  made  by 
the  only  legal  convention  held  by  the  republican  party  in 
Wisconsin  this  year."  Continuing  the  war  on  LaFol- 
lette  to  the  end,  he  subjected  the  governor  through  a 
three-hour  speech  to  a  merciless  arraignment  for  usurpa 
tion,  tyranny  and  fraud. 

In  the  audience  were  several  squads  of  young  LaFol- 
lette  men  who  repeatedly  applauded  the  speaker's  men 
tion  of  the  governor's  name,  whereupon  the  senator 
finally  forestalled  them  by  substituting  the  name 
" Smith"  for  that  of  "LaFollette." 

The  speaker  roundly  denounced  the  governor's  rail 
road  commission  bill.  ' '  That  bill,  if  passed  into  a  law, ' ' 
he  said,  ' '  would  close  more  factories  and  bring  more  dis 
aster  than  any  other  measure  ever  devised.  Now  what  is 
the  condition?  We  had  a  rate  commission  in  1874,  and 
after  it  had  been  tested  in  the  courts  the  legislature  re 
pealed  it  because  it  touched  injuriously  almost  every 
hamlet  in  the  state.  It  took  the  elasticity  out  of  rates 
which  enables  the  railroads  to  adapt  their  rates  to  the 
needs  of  their  different  localities.  *  *  *  This  bill 
puts  the  business  of  the  state  on  a  mileage  basis ;  that  the 
railroads  shall  not  charge  more  for  a  longer  than  a 
shorter  haul  unless  this  commission  says  it  may.  That 
means  to  rob  every  competitive  point  in  this  state  of 
competition.  What  a  power  to  put  into  the  hands  of  a 
commission  appointed  by  Governor — Smith ! ' ' 

In  closing  this  remarkable  speech  the  senator  said: 

"Now,  in  conclusion,  this  man  LaFollette  informs  us 
that  if  we  beat  him  on  November  8  on  November  9  he 
commences  again.  In  olden  times  they  used  to  think 
that  a  suicide  walked  and  consequently  they  buried  a 
suicide  where  four  roads  met  and  drove  a  stake  through 
him  to  keep  him  down.  Now,  I  tell  you  what  we  are 
going  to  do  Tuesday.  We  will  drive  through  LaFollette 


442  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

such  a  stake  in  the  shape  of  such  an  enormous  plurality 
that  even  his  ghost  will  see  that  it  is  vain  to  try  to  walk 
again. ' ' 

Also,  on  the  same  evening,  Senator  J.  V.  Quarles  in  a 
speech  at  Fond  du  Lac,  said : 

"How  long  can  the  party  last  under  such  leadership 
as  this?  LaFollette  has  debauched  the  legislature  and 
even  tried  to  elect  the  next  legislature.  If  the  king  of 
England  tried  such  a  thing  the  people  would  take  off  his 
head.  If  the  president  tried  it  he  would  be  impeached." 

Such  were  the  respects  paid  the  governor  of  their  own 
state  by  two  United  States  senators  of  professedly  the 
same  political  faith  as  his  and  on  the  very  eve  of  an 
election. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
A  Fateful  Election. 

INTENSE  INTEREST  TAKEN  IN  OUTCOME  OF  CAMPAIGN — NATIONAL 
ISSUES  FORGOTTEN — STALWARTS  THROW  SUPPORT  TO  PECK — LA- 
FOLLETTE  BE-ELECTED — RECEIVES  FLOOD  OF  CONGRATULATIONS — 
SIGNIFICANCE  OF  ELECTION  —  LAFOLLETTE'S  LONG  CONTEST 
FINALLY  WON. 

1HE  factional  rivalry  toward  the  close  of  the  campaign 
was  so  fast  and  furious  that  the  people  of  Wisconsin 
practically  lost  sight  of  the  fact  that  a  national  election 
was  impending.  Realizing  the  hopelessness  of  defeating 
LaFollette  through  the  Scofield  ticket,  the  stalwart  press 
and  leaders  openly  urged  the  support  of  the  democratic 
state  ticket.  Enormous  quantities  of  sample  ballots  were 
sent  throughout  the  state  with  a  cross  marked  in  the 
circle  at  the  head  of  the  republican  ticket,  but  with  lines 
drawn  through  the  republican  state  and  legislative  tick 
ets,  and  crosses  after  the  corresponding  democratic 
names,  thus  indicating  to  the  voter  how  he  could  vote 
the  republican  national  ticket  and  at  the  same  time  help 
defeat  the  republican  state  candidates.  The  national 
republican  (Scofielqi)  state  ticket  was  ignored. 

At  a  big  stalwart  meeting  in  Milwaukee  addressed  by 
Senator  Spooner  the  Saturday  night  before  election  a 
feature  of  the  opening  was  a  song  by  a  local  lawyer  run 
ning  in  part  as  follows: 

And  when  you  've  done  your  duty  and  'LaFollette 's  voted  out, 
We'll  raise  a  great  hosannah  and  a  grand  triumphal  shout; 
And  your  sons  and  your  great-grandsons  will  commemorate  the  day 
When  you  regained  your  freedom  from  the  petty  tyrant's  sway. 
So  forward  into  battle,  and  his  despotism  check, 
With  one  big  vote  for  Roosevelt  and  a  great  big  vote  for  Peck. 

Also  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel  said  on  November  1 : 
The  only  way  to  unseat  this  autocrat  is  to  defeat  him  at  the  polls 
next  Tuesday.     Tn  order  to  do  this  it  may  be  necessary  for  the 


444  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

republicans  to  make  sacrifices.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  defeat  of  Disturber  LaFollette  is  the  paramount  issue  in  this 
campaign. 

And  on  the  day  before  election  the  Sentinel  printed 
two  full  pages  of  newspaper  clippings  calling  for  the  de 
feat  of  LaFollette. 

Indeed  Secretary  Bentley,  of  the  stalwart  state  central 
committee,  said,  on  the  day  after  election : 

The  so-called  stalwarts  to  a  man  supported  the  national  repub 
lican  ticket,  while  with  almost  equal  unanimity  they  supported 
Governor  Peck,  and  find  no  reason  for  concealing  the  fact. 

The  outcome  of  the  election  was  awaited  with  the 
greatest  interest  throughout  the  country  and  with  the 
keenest  anxiety  by  many  of  the  governor 's  friends.  The 
metropolitan  papers  began  issuing  extras  as  soon  as  the 
returns  began  coming  in,  for  every  point  had  its  angle 
of  interest  in  the  contest.  It  soon  became  evident  that 
LaFollette  had  been  re-elected  and  hundreds  of  tele 
grams  of  congratulation  poured  in  upon  him.  As  indi 
cating  the  wide  range  and  warmth  of  interest  taken  in 
the  outcome,  a  few  of  these  felicitations  may  be  repro 
duced  : 

St.  Paul — Hearty  congratulations  over  your  splendid  victory 
against  such  tremendous  odds.  Greetings  to  all. — S.  R.  Van  Sant. 
(Governor  of  Minnesota.) 

Chicago — Both  Mrs.  Yates  and  I  are  gratified  beyond  measure 
by  your  victory. — Richard  Yates.  (Governor  of  Illinois.) 

Des  Moines — I  congratulate  you  most  heartily. — A.  B.  Cummins. 
(Governor  of  Iowa.) 

Cheyenne,  Wyo. — Wisconsin  and  the  entire  country  are  to  be 
congratulated  on  your  election.  Your  fight  for  right  on  behalf 
of  the  people  is  a  splendid  example  to  young  men.  It  gives  con 
fidence  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  honesty. — Fennimore  Chatterton. 

Chicago — I  rejoice  in  your  victory.  Sorry  I  was  not  a  resident 
of  Wisconsin  yesterday. — Charles  H.  Avery. 

Atlantic  City,  N.  J. — You  have  won  the  great  victory.  Accept 
my  congratulations. — W.  M.  Riddle.  (Mr.  Riddle  was  a  con 
tributor  to  LaFollette 's  campaign  fund  and  has  a  framed  ac 
knowledgment  hanging  in  his  library.) 


A  FATEFUL  ELECTION  445 

Boston — Hearty  congratulations.  Hope  you  may  reap  full  fruits 
of  victory. — Reed  of  Taunton. 

Denver — I  congratulate  you  upon  your  splendid  victory. — J.  C. 
Roberts. 

Reinbeck,  la. — Congratulations.  Interest  in  your  behalf  in 
Cedar  Rapids  and  state  was  intense. — G.  A.  Newall. 

New  York — Please  accept  my  hearty,  hearty,  hearty  congratula 
tions. — Wilbur  F.  Wakeman. 

Norfolk,  Va. — Congratulate  yourself  and  people  of  Wisconsin 
on  your  election. — C.  M.  Seeker. 

Oconto,  Wis. — Le  jour  de  gloire  est  arrive. — O.  F.  Trudell. 

Ft.  Atkinson,  Wis. — "Why  did  the  heathen  rage  and  imagine 
vain  things  ? ' '  The  house  of  Hoard,  children  and  grandchildren, 
join  in  a  heartfelt  shout  of  gratulation  over  your  great  justifica 
tion  by  the  people. — W.  D.  Hoard. 

Chicago — I  heartily  congratulate  you  upon  your  splendid  victory. 
— John  Anderson,  publisher  ' '  Skandinaveii. ' ' 

Yankton,  S.  D. — Our  heartiest  congratulations  and  good  wishes. 
All  at  hospital  join  in  this. — L.  C.  Mead. 

Portland,  Ore. — Another  great  victory.  Accept  my  congratula 
tions. — Jay  S.  Hamilton. 

Brodhead,  Wis. — Praise  the  Lord,  oh,  my  soul. — Mrs.  Burr 
Sprague. 

Louisville,  Ky. — Everyone  who  heard  you  at  Vincennes  will  re 
joice  in  the  triumph  of  representative  government  in  Wisconsin, 
which  I  trust  will  prove  a  splendid  object  lesson  for  the  rest  of 
the  states  of  the  union. — J.  O.  Pace. 

St.  Louis — Hearty  congratulations  on  your  election. — Knute 
Teman. 

Philadelphia — Hearty  congratulations.  Glamis  thou  art  and 
shalt  be  king  hereafter. — J.  J.  Collins. 

Former  Governor  George  W.  Peck,  the  democratic  candidate  for 
governor,  sent  the  following: 

Milwaukee — Returns  seem  to  show  that  you  are  elected  and  I 
congratulate  you  and  send  the  best  wishes  of  myself  and  family 
to  you  and  your  family.  You  have  made  a  brave  fight  and  deserve 
to  be  happy  and  I  wish  you  may  be. 

Green  Bay — Fearless  fight  unprecedented  in  history.  Victory 
crowns  your  efforts.  Governor,  you  have  my  sincerest  congratula 
tions.  Brown  county  by  1,400. — Fred  Warren. 

Chicago — To  quote  the  Tribune,  ' '  This  is  a  proud  day  for  Wis 
consin."  Glamis  thou  art  and  Cawdor  shalt  be. — J.  W.  Hiner. 

Duluth — Among  the  good  things  of  yesterdny  nothing  pleases 
me  more  then  your  election. — Fred  A.  Teall. 


446  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Sacramento — Congratulations  on  your  re-election  and  ratifica 
tion  of  the  primary  law.— Frank  F.  Atkinson. 

Kearney,  Neb. — Accept  my  congratulations  upon  your  re-elec 
tion  as  governor. — W.  H.  H.  Richardson. 

New  York — Hearty  congratulations  and  good  wishes.  Four 
years  from  today  hope  to  congratulate  you  on  your  presidential 
election. — Richard  Lloyd  Jones. 

Sioux  Falls,  S.  D. — Accept  my  hearty  congratulations.  Tho 
right  shall  prevail. — Ray  Williams. 

New  York — Hearty  congratulations. — J.  (J.  Garrison. 

On  the  official  count  LaFollette  had  a  plurality  of 
50,952.  The  vote  was:  LaFollette,  republican,  227,- 
253;  Peck,  democrat,  176,301;  Arnold,  social  democrat, 
24,857;  Scofield,  national  republican,  12,136;  Clark,  pro 
hibitionist,  8,764 ;  Minkley,  social  labor,  249 ;  total,  449,- 
560. 


On  the  night  of  election  the  rooms  in  the  executive 
office  were  jammed  with  a  surging,  exultant  crowd  which 
had  gathered  to  hear  the  results  of  the  election  and  to  ex 
tend  felicitations  to  the  governor  upon  the  great  victory. 
Men  of  all  classes  met  and  jostled  one  another,  officials, 
laborers,  professors,  farmers.  They  sprawled  over  the  ta 
bles  and  chairs,  all  shaking  hands,  slapping  one  another 
familiarly  and  passing  the  latest  news.  "—  -  county 
goes  for  LaFollette!"  shouts  the  man  at  the  telephone, 
waving  impatiently  to  the  noisy  crowd  that  he  niay  get 
more  of  the  message.  But  it  is  to  no  avail ;  in  the 
vernacular,  it  is  "all  off.'"  A  hundred  hats  fly  to  the 
ceiling  and  a  shout  that  seems  to  shake  the  building  goes 
up  at  the  news  that  some  rock-ribbed  citadel  of  stalwart- 
ism  has  been  finally  taken.  One  after  another  such  re 
ports  come  in  and  the  crowd  becomes  more  and  more 
demonstrative. 

In  a  small  inner  office  the  governor  is  seated.  A  chair 
has  been  set  upon  a  low  broad  box  in  one  corner  and  he 
has  been  crowded  into  it.  About  him  are  his  chief  lieu 
tenants.  The  venerable,  imperturbable  General  Bryant, 


A  FATEFUL  ELECTION  447 

SENATE  DISTRICT  MAP  OF  WISCONSIN 

Apportionment   1901.  Regular  Session. 

IK 

Showing  population  of  the  State 
by  Counties — Census  of  1900 


Total   Population    2.069.042 


^: 


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POPUI 

(Dists 

1st  Dis 
2d 
3d 

18$ 
IMS 

13th 
14th 
15th 
16th 
17th 
18th 
19th 
20th 

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m  pUf 

L-.  —  iipilL  —  —  fcA 

.ATION    OF    SENATORIAL 
DISTRICTS. 
.  4,  5,  6,   7,   8,   Milwaukee 
County.) 
Pop. 
trict  65,617 
67,233 
67,351 
61.487 

21st  "  .  .61,098 

22d  .  .  ....  51  203 

23d  64.04S 
24th  64,729 

25th  69  104 

26th  69,435 
27th  64,127 
28th  47,834 
29th  73.390 

I!:::::::::::  :»P 

64,050 
46,631 
73,722 
59  339 

31st  66.19.S 
32d  66,111 
33d  58.818 

MILWAUKEE    CO.     DISTS. 

4th  61  035 

.    56  167 

.  .66  792 

5th  69  196 

63  386 

6th  .7l',771 
7th  63  533 

....               .  .            58  225 

.  .66,708 

8th  .  ..64.482 

Election  1904.  dark  counties  carried  by  Peck 


448  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

his  political  godfather,  sits  at  his  feet;  Chynoweth,  his 
undaunted,  immovable  legal  adviser  and  heavy  hitter,  is 
there;  Roe,  his  former  law  partner;  Crawford  Harper, 
Bryan  Castle,  Charles  E.  Buell,  "Al"  Rogers,  his  alert, 
tactful  man  Friday;  Torge  and  Ed  Shaffer,  who  have 
ridden  through  miles  of  mud  to  get  out  the  rural  vote; 
George  Post,  Tom  Nelson,  Gratz,  Ed  Gibbs,  Ernest  War 
ner,  great  ward  workers ;  beardless  students,  keenly  alive, 
who  have  fought  the  good  fight  for  him  all  day  *  *  on  the 
hill;"  farmers  who  have  come  through  miles  of  fog  and 
rain  to  tell  of  their  battles  for  the  right ;  democrats  who 
have  been  borne  over  to  him  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
conflict — these  with  scores  of  others  crowd  about.  And 
above  them  all,  like  a  king  upon  his  throne,  sits  the  hero 
of  the  hour,  his  strong  intellectual  face  literally  glowing 
with  enthusiasm  and  animation,  infectious,  unforgetable, 
dispatching  orders  to  couriers  here,  receiving  messages 
there,  and  shaking  hands  right  and  left. 

"The  governor  is  wanted  at  the  telephone!"  shouts 
Tom  Purtell;  "no  one  else  will  do!"  A  German  farmer 
is  at  the  other  end  of  the  line,  a  resident  of  one  of  the 
hitherto  always  democratic  German  townships  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  county;  a  man  who  through  a  gen 
eration  has  borne  contumely  and  ostracism  because  of 
his  republican  convictions,  but  who  has  always  come  up 
smiling  and  unwearied  at  every  fight,  and  who  has  been 
unflagging  in  his  advocacy  of  the  governor's  reforms. 
His  hour  of  triumph  has  come  at  last.  He  tells  the  gov 
ernor  that  he  has  carried  his  town  for  him.  "Good  for 
you,  Matt!"  shouts  the  governor  in  reply;  "I  cannot 
thank  you  enough  for  what  you  have  alwa3rs  done  for 
me.  Tell  the  boys  I  appreciate  deeply  their  good  work." 

But  the  old  farmer  could  not  catch  the  governor's  mes 
sage.  His  voice  came  up  dimly  from  the  far  countryside, 
"I  don't  can  hear  you!" 

"Tell  the  boys,"  said  the  governor  more  loudly,  "that 
I  appreciate  deeply  their  good  work." 


A  FATEFUL  ELECTION  449 

Still  the  old  man  could  not  hear  and  the  governor  re 
peated  his  message  more  slowly  and  in  his  best  voice; 
but  all  to  no  avail.  Yet  another  attempt  failed. 

"Veil,"  shouted  the  governor,  as  a  happy  thought 
seized  him,  "tell  de  poys  dey  done  tarn  veil!" 

"All  right,  Fob,"  came  the  foggy  reply. 

This  historic  scene  was  the  last  of  quite  its  kind  that 
the  old  executive  office  witnessed  and  its  counterpart  in 
interest  and  unusual  features  has  scarcely  been  approxi 
mated  in  the  state 's  history.  When  a  few  men  now  sit 
around  a  table,  as  is  the  rule,  and  quietly  receive  and 
compare  election  returns  the  old-timers  present  who  wit 
nessed  and  remember  that  other  scene  are  prone  to  ob 
serve  in  wistful  reminiscence,  ' '  Those  were  the  days ! ' ' 


With  the  election  of  1904  LaFollette's  great  fight  was 
finally  and  decisively  won,  and  its  story,  in  so  far  as  it 
deals  with  stratagem  and  battle,  may  here  fittingly  close. 
The  legislature  chosen  at  the  same  election  was  ultimately 
to  write  all  the  demands  of  the  party  upon  the  statute 
books  and  thus  clear  the  way  for  the  governor's  entrance 
again  upon  the  larger  national  field.  As  indicated  in  the 
flood  of  felicitations  that  poured  in  upon  the  governor, 
the  victory  was  of  profound  national  import.  One  dis 
tant  metropolitan  daily  pronounced  it  of  much  greater 
significance  than  the  re-election  of  President  Roosevelt. 

In  the  recent  general  uprising  of  American  democracy 
for  a  larger  and  freer  life  and  to  vindicate  the  justice 
and  wisdom  of  its  establishment,  the  first  and  most  bril 
liant  victory,  considering  the  obstacles  encountered,  was 
achieved  in  Wisconsin.  The  splendid  conclusion  of  the 
ten-year  "holy  war"  everywhere  gave  cheer  to  believers 
in  democracy  and  the  psychological  effect  of  the  first 
ringing  note  of  victory  upon  the  expectant  ear  of  the 
nation  was  profound.  A  great  state  had  given  a  new 


450  LAFOLLETTB'S  WI.NMJNG  OF 

significance  to  its  motto  of  "Forward"  and  pointed  the 
way  for  other  confused  and  irresolute  commonwealths. 

A  golden  age  in  point  of  creative  achievement,  such 
as  often  accompanies  great  political  convulsions,  has  fol 
lowed,  not  without  its  crudities  and  abuses  and  wrongs, 
but  these  must  be  ever  incidental  to  progress  and  the  re 
adjustment  of  standards.  When  history  in  time  shall 
have  stripped  away  details  and  ephemeral  elements  the 
constructive  achievements  of  this  period  of  state  rebuild 
ing  will  stand  out  in  clearer  relief  and  their  worth  and 
value  be  more  justly  judged. 

While  the  antagonisms  and  animosities  engendered  by 
the  LaFollette  agitations  have  in  many  instances  been 
unfortunate  they  must  be  regarded  as  weighing  but 
lightly  when  cast  in  the  balance  with  the  larger  general 
good  resulting  from  them.  The  issues  waged  have  proved 
irritating  and  unsettling  to  the  political  mind,  but  if 
democracy  is  to  endure  society  must  be  kept  fluid  to  pre 
vent  crystallization  into  classes  ^nd_  castes,  and  oc 
casional  upheavals  such  as  these  are  but  manifestations 
of  a  virile  state  of  the  body  politic,  a  sign  that  beneath 
its  exterior  live  hopeful  potentialities  that  make  for 
freedom  and  progress.  The  Wisconsin  revolution  was 
in  its  field  but  a  phase  of  the  world-old  phenomenon. 
Ever  have  been  and  ever  will  be  found  in  human  evolu 
tion  two  contending  elements — reformers,  restless,  fore- 
visioned,  impatiently  thundering  for  progress,  and 
those  who  see  only  ruin  in  their  projects  or  at  least 
are  not  yet  ready  to  advance.  Today  one  may  be  in 
the  ascendancy,  tomorrow  the  other. 

With  peoples,  nations  and  parties,  as  with  individuals, 
periods  of  activity,  exertion,  achievement,  are  often  fol 
lowed  by  like  periods  of  repose,  often  of  retrogression. 
Believers  in  democracy  and  the  progressive  advancement 
of  society  will,  however,  continue  to  look  eastward.  Prog 
ress  and  reaction  may  alternate,  movements  and  civil- 


A  FATEFUL  ELECTION  451 

izations  run  their  courses  and  die,  yet  each  succeeding 
century,  building  on  the  old,  gains  something  of  value 
from  its  predecessor,  not  always  apparent  yet  none  the 

less  real. 

Although  'tis  weary  watching  wave  by  wave, 

Yet  the  tide  moves  onward; 
We  build  like  corals  grave  by  grave, 

That  pave  a  pathway  sun-ward. 
We  are  driven  backward  from  the  fray, 

A  newer  strength  to  borrow, 
And  where  the  vanguard  camps  today 

The  rear  will  camp  tomorrow. 

In  the  flowering  of  their  genius  for  democracy  the 
people  of  the  state  have  found  a  new  freedom,  dignity 
and  security  whose  happy  promise  lies  like  a  shaft  of 
light  across  the  land.  The  safeguarding  and  nurturing 
of  the  fruits  of  the  victory  achieved  must  depend  upon 
the  vigilance  of  the  people  of  a  great  commonwealth,  the 
inexorable  price  of  the  receding  but  ever  fairer  ideal  of 
liberty.  Rights  and  liberties  must  be  exercised  to  be 
preserved,  for  it  is  in  the  history  of  most  righteous  re 
forms  that  those  who  have  most  strongly  opposed  them 
have  come  to  profess  to  accept  and  defend  them,  once 
they  are  established,  and  in  the  consequent  suspension 
or  cessation  of  strife,  openly  or  insidiously  to  seize  upon 
the  new  machinery  to  serve  new  selfish  ends.  Thus  the 
victories  won,  often  at  great  sacrifice,  for  humanity  and 
progress,  may  eventually  prove  to  have  been  largely  in 
vain. 

It  is  an  endless  battle  to  be  free; 

As  the  old  dangers  lessen  from  the  skies 

New  perils  arise; 

Down  the  long  centuries  eternally, 

Again,  again  will  rise  Thermopylae — 

Again,  again  a  new  Leonidas. 

New  Lexington  on  Lexington  will  rise, 

And  many  a  valorous  Warren  fall 

Upon  the  imperilled  wall. 

Man  is  the  conscript  of  an  endless  quest, 

A  long  divine  adventure  without  rest. 


APPENDIX 
LaFollette  Pioneer  in  Conservation  Movement. 

MESSAGE  SENT  BY  GOVERNOR  LAFOLLETTE  TO  WISCONSIN  LEGIS 
LATURE  IN  SPRING  OF  1905 — ONE  OF  FIRST  NOTES  IN  CONSERVATION 
MOVEMENT,  PRECEDING  BY  SOME  YEARS  THE  ACTION  TAKEN  BY 
PRESIDENT  ROOSEVELT. 

IN  THE  legislative  session  of  1901  bills  for  eighteen 
dams  on  the  Wolf  river  were  introduced,  backed  prin 
cipally  by  Assemblyman  D.  E.  Riordan  of  Eagle  River. 
These  measures  would  have  given  practical  control  of  the 
whole  river  to  the  owners  of  the  dams,  and  when  the 
assembly  chairman  having  the  measures  in  hand  laid  the 
situation  before  Governor  LaFollette  the  latter  promptly 
urged  the  killing  of  the  scheme.  It  was  this  incident 
and  others  of  similar  character  that  led  to  the  message 
given  below : 

EXECUTIVE  COMMUNICATION 

State  of  Wisconsin, 
Executive   Chamber, 
Madison,  April  12,  1905. 
To  the  Honorable,  the  Legislature: 

Five  hundred  and  sixteen  laws  granting  franchises  to  dam 
navigable  streams  within  this  state  have  been  passed  since  the 
organization  of  the  territory  of  Wisconsin.  Formerly  many  of 
these  grants  were  for  logging  purposes.  The  great  reduction  in 
lumbering  within  the  last  few  years  has  considerably  decreased 
the  number  of  grants  made  in  aid  of  logging  and  lumbering.  Not 
withstanding  this  fact,  the  demand  for  franchises  to  build  dams 
across  the  navigable  streams  of  the  state,  seems  to  be  increasing. 
It  is  therefore,  clearly  manifest  that  capital  has  awakened  to  the 
opportunities  which  these  waterpowers  offer  for  permanent  invest 
ment.  It  is  certainly  desirable  that  this  should  bo  encouraged  in 
every  proper  way. 

It  has,  heretofore,  been  the  policy  of  the  state  to  grant  to  any 
party  seeking  the  same,  the  right  to  build  dams  across  navigable 
streams  anywhere  within  the  limits  of  the  commonwealth.  Pro- 


APPENDIX  453 

vided  that  its  action  does  not  conflict  with  the  action  of  congress 
upon  the  same  subject,  the  state  has  the  undoubted  authority  to 
determine  where  and  under  what  conditions  dams  may  be  con 
structed  across  its  navigable  waters.  The  only  conditions  which 
it  has  attached  to  grants  of  this  character  up  to  the  present  time, 
are  the  right  to  amend  or  repeal  the  same,  and  the  requirement 
that  fishways  shall  be  maintained  in  all  dams.  It  is  the  law  that 
the  structure  must  improve  the  navigation  of  the  stream.  When 
ever  those  applying  for  these  franchises  have  sought  the  authority, 
the  legislature  has  freely  conferred  upon  them  the  right  to  condemn 
and  take  the  lands  of  others,  and  overflow  the  same,  by  providing 
effective  statutory  proceedings  to  that  end. 

Probably  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  states  in  the  union  are 
so  abundantly  supplied  with  natural  waterpower  as  Wisconsin  and 
no  state  in  the  middle  west  is  comparable  to  it  in  this  respect. 
More  than  one  thousand  lakes,  widely  distributed  within  its  borders, 
form  natural  reservoirs,  furnishing  sources  of  supply  to  the  streams 
which  flow  through  every  section  of  the  state. 

We  have  recently  undertaken,  at  considerable  expense,  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  forestry  commission  with  a  view  of  preserving  what 
ever  remains  of  the  forests  upon  state  lands  not  suited  to  agricul 
ture,  and  the  re-foresting  of  those,  and  such  other  lands  as  can 
most  profitably  be  used  for  that  purpose.  The  state  forestry 
legislation,  adopted  two  years  ago,  very  defective  in  many  respects, 
will,  it  is  hoped,  be  so  amended  as  to  establish  this  important  work 
upon  a  permanent  and  efficient  basis.  It  is  referred  to  in  this 
connection  because  the  preservation  of  our  forests  and  the  re 
foresting  of  lands  about  the  sources  and  along  the  head  waters  of 
our  principal  streams,  are  absolutely  essential  to  the  preservation 
of  Wisconsin's  splendid  waterpowers.  The  restoration  of  our 
forests,  and  the  preservation  of  our  waterpowers  go  hand  in  hand. 
It  therefore  behooves  the  legislature  to  exercise  the  utmost  caution 
in  granting  franchises  to  dam  streams  and  flood  lands,  lest  legis 
lation  for  the  protection  of  forests  and  streams  be  not  undone  in 
flooding  state  lands  and  destroying  tree-growth,  just  where,  for 
every  reason,  it  should  be  protected. 

In  the  early  life  of  states  and  municipalities  franchises  are  freely 
granted  for  the  building  of  ferries  and  bridges,  turnpikes,  rail 
roads,  and  street  railways.  Liberal  donations  of  moneys  and  lands 
are  frequently  bestowed  upon  those  receiving  the  franchises.  Eager 
to  secure  rapid  development,  little  thought  is  taken  for  the  future, 
and  no  consideration  given  to  the  proper  restrictions  or  limitations 
to  be  imposed  upon  those  who  are  the  beneficiaries  of  these  valuable 
public  grants. 


454  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Our  navigable  streams  and  rivers,  like  our  streets  and  highways, 
are  open  to  the  free  use  of  the  people  of  the  state.  No  one  can 
acquire  ownership  in  these  waters.  If  the  public  through  legisla 
tion,  grants  franchises,  surrendering  the  use  of  any  of  its  navigable 
waters  to  individuals  or  corporations,  it  is  entitled  to  a  reasonable 
consideration  therefor.  This  it  may  not  choose  to  take  as  a  money 
consideration,  but  the  state  cannot  do  less  than  recognize  the 
rights  of  the  public,  in  making  reasonable  reservations  at  the  time 
it  confers  the  grants.  The  franchises  so  taken  in  many  cases, 
grant  rights  of  great  and  rapidly  increasing  value.  The  vast 
amount  of  power  which  these  waters  produce  is  a  resource  of  a 
public  nature,  in  the  advantage  and  benefit  of  which  the  public 
should  participate. 

Modern  industrial  development  is  making  rapid  progress.  Al 
ready  these  waterpowers  are  extensively  employed  to  generate 
electricity.  The  transmission  of  this  power  over  considerable  dis 
tances  is  successfully  accomplished  with  little  loss.  It  will,  in  the 
near  future,  be  more  widely  distributed  at  a  constantly  diminishing 
cost.  In  manufacturing,  in  electric  lighting  in  cities  and  towns 
and  in  the  country,  in  operating  street  and  interurban  cars  for 
the  transportation  of  passengers  and  freight,  and  in  furnishing 
motive  power  for  the  factory  and  the  farm,  electricity  will  eventu 
ally  become  of  great  importance  in  the  industrial  life  of  our  com 
monwealth. 

It  is,  therefore,  quite  apparent  that  these  waterpowers  are  no 
longer  to  be  regarded  simply  as  of  local  importance.  They  are 
of  industrial  and  commercial  interest  to  every  community  in  the 
state.  Whether  it  be  located  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  a 
waterpower  will,  in  time,  make  little  or  no  difference.  While  this 
is  becoming  more  manifest  year  by  year,  it  is  probably  true  that 
we  do  not,  as  yet,  approximately  estimate  the  ultimate  value  of 
these  waterpowers  to  the  people  of  Wisconsin. 

It  must,  therefore,  be  apparent  that  this  subject,  broadly  con 
sidered,  is  of  profound  interest  to  the  people  of  this  commonwealth. 
If  the  policy  of  the  state  with  respect  to  these  franchises  ought 
to  be  changed  at  all,  it  certainly  ought  to  be  changed  now.  Re 
serving  the  right  to  amend  or  repeal  is  not  enough.  When  rich  and 
powerful  companies,  availing  themselves  of  these  grants,  acting  in 
concert,  seek  to  resist  amendment  or  repeal,  their  influence  will 
prove  a  very  serious  obstacle.  Economic  conditions  are  rapidly 
changing  in  this  state  and  in  the  country.  A  legislative  policy 
which  grants  franchises  without  substantial  conditions  amply  pro 
tecting  the  public,  and  securing  to  it  reasonable  benefits  in  return, 
is  neither  right  nor  just,  and  ought  no  longer  to  be  tolerated.  The 


APPENDIX  455 

capital  already  invested,  industries  already  established,  may  in  a 
few  years  find  themselves  quite  at  the  mercy  of  power  companies 
in  combined  control  of  the  waterpower  of  the  state. 

Such  investigations  as  I  have  been  able  to  make  of  the  subject 
plainly  indicate  that  many  of  the  grants  to  construct  dams  hereto 
fore  passed  by  the  legislature,  have  been  secured  purely  for  specu 
lative  purposes.  In  such  cases  no  improvements  whatever  have 
been  made.  The  grants  have  been  held  awaiting  opportunities 
to  sell  the  same  with  large  profit  to  the  holders,  who  have  not 
invested  a  dollar  for  the  benefit  of  the  state,  or  its  industrial  de 
velopment.  It  is  obvious  that  those  franchises  may  be  gathered 
up,  and  consolidated  with  others  which  have  been  granted  where 
improvements  have  been  made,  and  prices  advanced  until  the  state, 
municipalities,  and  the  public  will  be  compelled  to  pay  an  exor 
bitant  rate  for  the  power  upon  which  we  are  likely  to  grow  more 
and  more  dependent  as  time  passes. 

It  is  submitted  to  your  honorable  body  that  the  time  has  come 
to  give  this  subject  the  careful  consideration  which  its  great  im 
portance  demands.  I  believe  that  the  state  should  encourage  the 
development  of  its  natural  resources,  including  its  waterpower 
system,  in  so  far  as  it  may  properly  do  so;  but  the  obligation  rests 
upon  those  charged  with  the  responsibility  and  clothed  with  author 
ity,  to  encourage  this  development  under  such  conditions  as  will 
justly  and  fairly  protect  the  public  rights  in  these  great  natural 
advantages. 

I  therefore  recommend  that  in  all  grants  of  this  character  here 
after  made,  it  shall  be  provided: 

First.  That  failure  to  exercise  the  rights  granted  under  the 
franchise  within  a  period  of  two  years  shall  operate  as  a  forfeiture 
of  the  same. 

Second.  That  whenever  the  power  acquired  under  and  by  virtue 
of  the  franchise  shall  be  operated,  or  its  operation  suspended, 
pursuant  to  any  contract,  agreement,  or  understanding,  express  or 
implied,  in  violation  of  any  law  of  the  state,  or  of  the  federal  gov 
ernment,  the  franchise  shall  be  forfeited  forthwith. 

Third.  That  whenever  power  acquired  under  and  by  virtue  of 
the  franchise  shall  be  offered  for  sale  that  some  reasonable  pro 
vision  shall  be  made  for  the  protection  of  the  state,  of  municipal 
ities,  of  corporations  and  individuals  in  the  purchase  of  such  power 
at  reasonable  rates  therefor. 

Fourth.  That  the  franchise  so  granted  shall  be  subject  to  taxa 
tion  by  the  state  through  its  tax  commission  or  state  board  of 
assessment. 

I  further  recommend  the  passage  of  a  general  law  repealing  all 


456  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

suoh  franchises  granted  prior  to  January  1,  1903,  where  the  dams 
have  not  been  built  pursuant  to  the  grant;  and  that  the  further 
provisions,  hereinbefore  recommended,  for  all  grants  hereafter  to 
be  made,  be  incorporated  in  such  general  act  and  adopted  as  amend 
ments  to  all  grants  of  like  character  heretofore  made,  in  so  far  as 
applicable. 

The  United  States  geological  survey  has  for  two  years  been 
engaged  in  an  investigation  of  the  waterpowers  of  Wisconsin. 
This  work  determines  the  location  and  rating  in  horsepower  of  each 
of  the  dams  upon  the  principal  rivers  of  the  state.  I  am  advised 
that  it  would  be  possible  for  the  state  to  secure  at  this  time  the 
substantial  results  of  this  investigation.  I  believe  that  the  legisla 
ture  should  authorize  the  employment  of  a  civil  engineer  by  the 
state,  to  complete  the  work,  covering  all  the  streams  upon  which 
grants  have  been  made  for  the  erection  of  dams,  locating  the  same, 
and  reporting  whether  the  improvements  have  been  made  and 
maintained,  or  whether  the  same  have  not  been  improved,  the 
character  of  the  waterpower,  where  one  exists,  and  its  approximate 
horsepower  rating,  the  use  made  of  the  same,  and  the  names  of 
its  present  owners.  Such  investigation  should  also  include  data 
as  to  the  location,  and  the  approximate  horsepower  rating  of  un 
developed  waterpowers  upon  all  of  the  streams  of  the  state.  These 
facts,  when  ascertained,  should  be  reported  to  the  next  legislature 
in  a  form  which  should  enable  it  to  act  intelligently  in  granting 
franchises  in  the  future.  If  the  state  avails  itself  of  the  work 
already  done  in  this  direction  by  the  federal  government,  it  can 
be  completed  in  a  few  months,  at  a  cost  of  not  to  exceed  one 
thousand  dollars.  Respectfully  submitted, 

ROBERT  M.  LAFOLLETTK, 

Governor. 


PIONEER  PROGRESSIVES  IN  WISCONSIN 

The  following  names  of  local  pioneer  leaders  in  the 
LaFollette  reform  movement  have  been  furnished  for 
each  county  by  one  or  more  of  the  prominent  workers 
mentioned.  The  names  are  such  as  occurred  to  the  cor 
respondents  as  among  those  who  were  early  active  in  the 
reform  movement.  Many  more  might,  of  course,  be 
added  of  men  entitled  to  credit  in  advancing  the  cause 
in  their  respective  localities : 


APPENDIX  457 

ADAMS  COUNTY — John  P.  Lewis,  G.  W.  Bingliam,  C. 
H.  Oilman,  Friendship ;  John  A.  Henry,  Easton. 

ASHLAND  COUNTY — F.  C.  Smith,  J.  A.  Cobb,  B.  0. 
Olson,  Pearce  Tompkins,  George  McLeod,  John  Sand- 
Strom,  John  Cannovan,  Lewis  Anderson,  Robert  Parsons, 
Charles  McGully,  Peter  Hanson,  James  Good,  William 
Nohl,  J.  K.  Parish,  Andrew  Peterson,  N.  P.  Anderson, 
Charles  Bloss,  0.  H.  Berg,  A.  W.  Sanborn,  Ashland;  J. 
G.  Stoltz,  Glidden;  Charles  Kleinsteiber,  Butternut. 

BARRON  COUNTY — Henry  S.  Comstock,  Samuel  Palmer, 
T.  M.  Purtell,  Cumberland;  Clarence  C.  Coe,  Barron; 
Andrew  G.  Strand,  0.  H.  Ingram,  W.  "W.  Dietz,  Rice 
Lake;  J.  M.  Rossbach,  George  E.  Scott,  L.  J.  Breen, 
Prairie  Farm;  0.  H.  Gulickson,  Cameron;  John  H 
Johnson,  Maple  Grove ;  William  Simpson,  Canton. 

BAYFIELD  COUNTY — William  O'Neill,  L.  N.  Clausen, 
Nels  N.  Oscar,  Nels  Nelson,  Washburn;  Peter  Savage, 
Editor  Iron  River  Pioneer,  Iron  River ;  William  Knight, 
Bayfield. 

BROWN  COUNTY— Fred  D.  Miller,  S.  H.  Cady,  Roland 
T.  Burdon,  Gustave  Kuestermann,  C.  A.  Armstrong,  G. 
A.  Buengner,  Charles  Kerr,  Lewis  Findeisen,  John  Ras- 
mussen,  Fred  B.  Warren,  Sol.  P.  Huntington,  Fred  Hurl- 
burt,  Green  Bay;  B.  F.  Smith,  Paul  L.  Halline,  editor 
Depere  News;  J.  P.  Dousman,  Depere. 

BUFFALO  COUNTY — W.  L.  Houser,  C.  W.  Gilman. 
James  Dillon,  Mondovi;  F.  J.  Bohri,  H.  E.  Roettiger, 
Fountain  City;  E.  F.  Ganz,  editor  Buffalo  County  Jour 
nal,  Alma;  John  Meili,  editor  Landsmann,  Cochrane; 
J.  W.  Wood,  Independence. 

BURNETT  COUNTY — Ole  Eriekson,  Simon  Thoreson, 
A.  J.  Myrland,  Tobias  Thoreson,  A.  M.  Clementson,  A.  E. 
Nelson,  Fred  S.  Christiansen,  A.  A.  Anderson,  E.  L. 
Peet.  Grantsburg;  Frank  Frolander,  Andrew  Peterson, 
Andrew  Anderson,  Trade  Lake;  August  Cassell,  A.  G. 
Peterson,  Charles  Blomgren,  Falcum;  Daniel  Johnson, 


458  LAFOLLETTK'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Siren ;  Robert  C.  Anderson,  Matt  Johnson,  Anderson ; 
Isaac  Lundquist,  John  Hillstrand,  A.  H.  Borgman, 
Marshland;  H.  J.  Halberg,  E.  G.  Maxwell,  E.  H.  Ever- 
son,  Robert  Magnuson,  William  B.  Connor,  Menon;  E. 
M.  Stewart,  William  E.  Armstrong,  J.  A.  McCarthy,  S. 
H.  Arnes,  H.  C.  Hanson,  Rusk ;  Frank  Fahland,  Coomer. 

CALUMET  COUNTY — William  Knauf,  Andrew  Noll. 
Chilton. 

CHIPPEWA  (AND  RUSK) — Dr.  P.  H.  Lindley,  Casper 
Lebeis,  Joseph  Riley,  H.  M.  Town,  Magnus  Furth, 
Thomas  Roycraft,  W.  W.  Potter,  John  W.  Thomas,  Chip- 
pewa  Falls;  Theodore  M.  Thomas,  Ladysmith  (Rusk 
county). 

CLARK  COUNTY — Spencer  M.  Marsh,  Frank  T.  Tucker, 
George  E.  Crothers,  F.  W.  Draper,  L.  M.  Sturdevant, 
John  Huntzicker,  F.  M.  Jackson,  0.  W.  Schoengarth.  C. 
•M.  Bradford,  John  Dwyer,  Neillsville;  W.  S.  Irvine, 
Loyal. 

COLUMBIA  COUNTY — A.  A.  Porter,  editor  Portage 
Register;  Charles  Mohr,  Jr.,  W.  C.  Gault,  Dr.  A  C. 
Kellogg,  J.  C.  Mackenzie,  Portage;  E.  E.  Haight,  E.  V. 
Laughlin,  Dr.  L.  A.  Squire,  P.  W.  Mackenzie,  W.  II. 
Everett,  Poynette;  L.  N.  Coapman,  Dr.  C.  E.  Winter- 
mute,  Frank  Marshall,  Solomon  Brown,  Don  French, 
Kilbourn ;  H.  Stanley,  John  Dooley,  Wyocena ;  George 
Hopkins,  John  R.  Davies,  Cambria ;  George  Wylie,  Leeds  ; 
W.  H.  Cobb,  Stephen  Hanson,  Henry  Thompson,  Par- 
deeville;  Dr.  F.  S.  Verbeck,  Sam  Watson,  George  Gordon. 
Lodi;  James  R.  Hastie,  Dekorra;  W.  C.  Leitsch,  W.  R. 
Turner,  Columbus ;  Robert  Wilson,  Okee ;  H.  A.  Hanson, 
J.  A.  Johnson,  C.  P.  Caldwell,  Rio;  W.  H.  McElroy, 
Marcellon ;  P.  J.  Rasmussen,  Lewiston ;  Charles  Anacker, 
Ft.  Winnebago;  G.  0.  Underdahl,  Hampden,  Joseph 
Sanderson,  Randolph ;  Theodore  Henton,  Otsego ;  George 
McMillan,  Arlington;  Leonard  Holl,  Anton  Jerrison, 
Caledonia;  James  H.  Hasey,  town  of  Columbus. 


APPENDIX  459 

CRAWFORD  COUNTY — Alley  Peterson,  James  O.  David 
son,  Dr.  A.  J.  McDowell,  James  Dinsdale,  Soldiers  Grove ; 
A.  H.  Long,  E.  I.  Kidd,  A.  C.  Wallin,  J.  D.  Stuart,  G.  L. 
Miller,  Prairie  du  Chien ;  E.  E.  Sherwood,  Mt.  Sterling. 

DANE  COUNTY — George  E.  Bryant,  S.  A.  Harper,  H. 
W.  Chynoweth,  Dr.  W.  W.  Gill,  Gilbert  E.  Roe,  A.  G. 
Zimmerman,  E.  Ray  Stevens,  J.  C.  Harper,  C.  A.  Harper, 
Ernest  N.  Warner,  A.  T.  Torge,  C.  E.  Buell,  Thomas  P. 
Nelson,  C.  M.  Dow,  C.  R.  Van  Hise,  A.  W.  Anderson, 
Rufus  B.  Smith,  George  Y.  Borchsenius,  Paul  D.  Gurnee, 
E.  F.  Gibbs,  R.  N.  Qualey,  N.  P.  Stenjem,  John  M.  Nel 
son,  George  P.  Miller,  C.  G.  Riley,  H.  C.  Winter,  George 
S.  Post,  C.  E.  Shaffer,  G.  E.  Fess,  Madison ;  H.  B.  Dahle, 
0.  A.  Stolen,  Mt.  Horeb ;  Eli  Pederson,  Primrose ;  C.  W. 
Netherwood,  H.  M.  Haskell,  Oregon;  E.  F.  Scherbel, 
Middleton;  H.  J.  Spaulding,  Vienna;  H.  B.  Fargo, 
Nels  Holman,  Deerfield;  E.  J.  Onstad,  Chris  Le- 
gried,  Cambridge;  G.  J.  Fjelstad,  Lawrence  Post,  Perry; 
John  M.  Estes,  Pleasant  Springs;  Julius  Johnson,  0.  K. 
Roe,  Albert  Burrill,  Ben  Compton,  Erick  Olson,  H.  A. 
Huber,  Stoughton;  J.  Q.  Emery,  Albion;  John  S.  Don 
ald,  Springdale;  W.  S.  Hidden,  Sun  Prairie;  E.  C.  Me- 
land,  De  Forest;  J.  C.  Hanson,  Deerfield. 

DODGE  COUNTY — Henry  Dahl,  Walter  Zerbel,  Albert 
Loeffler,  Arthur  Benke,  Charles  Cohn,  Fred  Hinzel,  Dr. 
Neal  Barber,  John  Evans,  Jr.,  D.  S.  Evans,  Christ  Lenz, 
David  Jones,  Peter  Thauer,  August  Krueger,  Alex 
Krueger,  Leonard  Triplett,  W.  E.  Gruetzmacher,  John 
Zarwell,  Watertown;  A.  C.  Becher,  Otto  Radke,  Henry 
Weisenheimer,  Henry  Weisensell,  F.  A.  Rupnow,  Ju- 
neau ;  William  Wegwart,  Emil  Melcher,  Woodland ;  Her 
man  Wedenmeyer,  Pat  Sullivan,  Edward  Barnick, 
Charles  Higgins,  Richwood ;  J.  F.  Zarwell,  Fred  Zarwell, 
Louis  Ebert,  Beaver  Dam ;  J.  Labuwi,  C.  J.  Schoenfeld, 
J.  M.  Weisenheim,  G.  A.  Franke,  Neosho;  M.  Williams, 
Carl  Porter,  Fox  Lake;  Oscar  Faber.  Alvin  Drager,  Dr. 


460  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

W.  Hiiike,  John  Wheeler,  William  Kohl,  Fred  Sommers, 
Ernest  Adelmeyer,  Mayville;  T.  P.  Perkins,  Dr.  W. 
Hipke,  Fred  Sommers,  Hustisford;  Edward  Westfahl, 
Ed.  Behfel,  Andrew  W7ashburn,  Roy  Tillotson,  W.  A. 
Van  Brunt,  Horicon;  John  Ludetke,  Iron  Ridge;  Alex 
Keel,  Henry  Ackermanit,  Lowell. 

DOOR  COUNTY — H.  J.  Sanderson,  Henry  Overbeck, 
Henry  Graas,  Sturgeon  Bay;  Thomas  Reynolds,  Jack- 
sonport ;  Alexander  Lawson,  Sr.,  Forestville ;  Joseph 
Jirtle,  H.  L.  Peterson,  Sawyer;  August  Olson,  Clay 
Banks ;  A.  Hogenson,  Liberty  Grove ;  James  Hanson,  H. 
R.  Holand,  Ephraim;  N.  J.  Delfasse,  Union;  Frank 
Wellever,  Egg  Harbor;  L.  L.  Johnson,  Sawyer. 

DOUGLAS  COUNTY — I.  L.  Lenroot,  E.  Kirby  Thomas, 
John  L.  Erickson,  Victor  Linley,  C.  H.  Crownhart,  A. 
C.  Titus,  A.  J.  Vinje,  W.  W.  Andrew,  R.  J.  Nye,  A.  W. 
Durley,  Halford  E.  Erickson,  George  B.  Hudnall,  John 
Erickson,  H.  W.  Dietrich,  W.  R.  Foley,  Superior. 

DUNN  COUNTY — Albert  R.  Hall,  Timothy  Murphy, 
Knapp;  0.  G.  Kinney,  S.  S.  Sivertson,  Coif  ax ;  J.  C. 
Wilcox,  Judge  John  Kelly,  J.  E.  Florin,  James  II.  Stout, 
Menomonie;  Sven  Anderson,  Wheeler;  D.  C.  Coolidge, 
A.  L.  Best,  Downing. 

EAU  CLAIRE  COUNTY — Peter  J.  Smith,  Mort  McMillan. 
George  Witherby,  Dr.  J.  H.  Noble,  A.  J.  Klofanda,  Fred 
M.  Miner,  Julius  C.  Gilbertson,  W.  A.  Teall,  C.  N. 
Sprague,  C.  A.  Evans,  B.  B.  Foster,  Eau  Claire;  C.  N. 
Saugen.  Eleva;  Cal.  McCumber,  Fairchild. 

FLORENCE  COUNTY- 
FOND  DU  LAC  COUNTY — John  E.  Williams,  Frank 
Bacon,  Waupun;  F.  E.  Wilson,  W.  H.  Englebright,  H. 
A.  Weil.  William  Soule,  C.  H.  Dodge,  Roy  Reed,  Ripon; 
George  Stelter,  Fairwater;  William  Witte,  Campbells- 
port;  H.  A.  Ripley,  Oakfield;  William  Mauthe,  George 
Ferris,  Fond  du  Lac. 

FOREST  COUNTY — John  F.  Hooper,  William  Kennard, 


APPENDIX  461 

Ward  Wescott,  Henry  Andrews,  Fred  Andrews,  John 
Krumm,  Crandon. 

GRANT  COUNTY — W.  D.  Richardson,  Richard  Meyer, 
Jr.,  C.  H.  Baxter,  Edward  Pollock,  Stephen  Taylor, 
Thomas  McDonald,  J.  H.  Howe,  George  W.  Ryland,  Wil 
liam  Ziegler,  George  Clementson,  Robert  Draper,  John 
Schreiner,  David  Schreiner,  Lancaster;  Dwight  T. 
Parker,  Henry  E.  Roethe,  Feiminiore;  L.  M.  Oakey,  J. 
Kleinpell,  Cassville;  Sam  Birch,  Beetown;  Andrew  Hut- 
ton,  George  D.  Beck,  J.  V.  Holman,  E.  E.  Burns,  Charles 
L.  Harper,  George  B.  Carter,  Platteville;  Capt.  H. 
Young,  G.  Davis,  Robert  Collier,  Patch  Grove;  J.  A. 
Cabanis,  Georgetown;  Joseph  Harris,  Jefferson  Craw 
ford,  Hazel  Green;  Milton  Woodhouse,  Herman  Enke, 
Bloomington ;  P.  T.  Stevens,  Ruf  us  Quick,  Joseph  Chand 
ler,  Montfort;  Rufus  M.  Day,  Alexander  Cairns,  D.  L. 
Brunson,  Mt.  Hope;  Thomas  Watson,  Charles  Watson, 
J.  Livingston,  Livingston;  John  J.  Blaine,  Boscobel;  S. 
E.  Smalley,  Cuba  City. 

GREEN  COUNTY — John  L.  Sherron,  Harvey  Clark, 
George  Pietzsch,  Emery  Odell,  A.  S.  Douglas,  Monroe; 
Fred  Ties,  Brodhead;  Sol  Levitan,  Oswald  Kubley, 
George  Pierce,  New  Glarus ;  A.  B.  Comstock,  Albany  ; 
Andrew  Lewis,  S.  E.  Richards,  Monticello. 

GREEN  LAKE  COUNTY — Horace  E.  Stedman.  Charles 
H.  Russell,  Newcomb  Spoor,  Fred  Engelbracht,  Sr., 
Ernst  Greverus,  Thomas  McKinney,  Berlin;  Charles  F. 
Schrader,  Herman  Abendroth,  Charles  Degener,  August 
Welk,  Markesan ;  Dr.  R.  H.  Buckland,  Green  Lake ; 
Frank  A.  Meyer,  Brooklyn;  R.  H.  Spragg,  Marquette; 
Fred  Spooner,  Philip  Lehner,  Princeton ;  Henry  Prieve, 
St.  Marie. 

IOWA  COUNTY — A.  S.  Hearn,  J.  P.  Smelker,  Orville 
Strong,  Arthur  L.  Jones,  Thomas  Rogers,  T.  J.  Jones, 
Henry  Roberts,  W.  J.  Pearce,  William  Williams,  Dodge- 
ville;  Phil  Allen,  Sr.,  John  Francis,  Badge  Miner,  Ben 


462  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Bennett,  W.  H.  Bennett,  George  C.  Cox,  Mineral  Point; 
Levi  W.  Pollard,  R.  T.  Richards,  Joseph  Heathcock, 
Henry  D.  James,  Linden ;  Thomas  Gibbon,  Thomas  Raine, 
Mifflin;  R.  L.  Joiner,  James  Lloyd  Jones,  Wyoming; 
Evan  Lewis,  Ridgeway;  Thomas  Williams,  W.  J.  Pryor, 
Barneveld ;  Al.  Rewey,  Rewey ;  William  Meffert,  Arena ; 
Henry  Culver,  Cobb. 

IRON  COUNTY — James  Overholtzer,  Eagle  River. 

JACKSON  COUNTY — George  F.  Cooper,  G.  M.  Hull,  Mer 
lin  Hull,  Martin  Tollack,  J.  J.  MeGillivray,  M.  A.  Lien, 
E.  J.  Bonnell,  Black  River  Falls ;  S.  M.  Curran,  Taylor ; 
W.  S.  Braddock,  Mather;  J.  T.  Ringrose,  Alma  Center; 
H.  A.  M.  Steen,  Northfield ;  Neils  Heggen,  York ;  N.  N. 
Nelson,  Curran;  J.  0.  McNutt,  Warrens;  Edward  But 
ton,  Melrose. 

JEFFERSON  COUNTY — W.D.  Hoard,  L.  B.  Caswell,  Frank 
Scribner,  E.  A.  Wigdale,  Geo.  Becher,  E.  A.  McPherson, 
Geo.  Stevens,  G.  W.  Dexheimer,  Leonard  Webb,  George 
Schilling,  H.  H.  Curtis,  Jud  Gates,  R.  T.  Hunter,  0.  W. 
Donkle,  Ft.  Atkinson;  C.  L.  Church,  John  Marshall,  Ed 
ward  Parrish,  Clarence  Steele,  Fred  Sheriff,  Henry  Wil- 
ber,  Myron  Piper,  Whitewater;  John  Ervins,  W.  E. 
Blumenstein,  A.  A.  Lepperd,  Mart  Roethle,  Ollie  F. 
Friedel,  Jos.  McLery,  Fred  Bartlett,  Sullivan ;  Will  Hoff 
man,  William  Brown,  Hebron;  Louis  Auerbach,  Rome; 
Ray  T.  Twining,  Alex.  Archie,  D.  J.  Hoyt,  H.  M. 
Knowlton,  H.  W.  Stokes,  Ben  Crump,  W.  F.  Stiles, 
Waterloo;  J.  H.  Gosa,  M.  J.  Gosa,  F.  G.  Ervins,  C.  H. 
Golden,  William  Ervins,  William  TJglow,  Palmyra  ;  Rich 
ard  Knell,  Dr.  John  Gargen,  John  Gates,  Richard  Stew 
art,  Cambridge ;  W.  F.  Gruetzmacher,  William  F.  Whyte, 
Dr.  A.  H.  Hartwig,  Nicholas  Thauer,  William  Gordon, 
Gust  Bucheit,  Harry  Downing,  A.  B.  Liebermann,  Dr. 
Eugen  Goldner,  Frank  Goldner,  Thomas  Perry,  Paul  G. 
Volkmann,  Julius  Volkmann,  Frank  Volkmann,  James 
Meehan.  Edwin  Witte,  Henry  Weimann,  Henry  Louns- 


APPENDIX  463 

bury,  Fremont  Lounsbury,  Watertown;  Frank  Marsh, 
E.  C.  Dewara,  Albert  Hanke,  0.  H.  Stevens,  William 
Voight,  George  Munsell,  F.  J.  Fleming,  George  Fleming, 
J.  M.  Gannon,  Martin  Puence,  C.  II.  Henry,  C.  E.  Cope- 
land,  C.  C.  Fox,  Ole  Olson,  Herman  Ladien,  Jefferson; 
George  Wertheimer,  H.  W.  Gallup,  M.  E.  Sanders,  Edwin 
H.  Wollin,  F.  C.  Mansfield,  Will  Schallert,  Johnson's 
Creek ;  Owen  Roberts,  Carl  Marlow,  Ixonia ;  F.  C.  Green 
wood,  H.  T.  Nicholai,  E.  C.  Dodge,  Frank  Fargo,  W.  F. 
M.  Meyers,  Fred  Curr,  John  Millar d,  Ed  Kisow,  David 
Sheldon,  Julius  Cooper,  Frank  Schutz,  Lake  Mills. 

JUNEAU  COUNTY — J.  K.  Powell,  Charles  A.  Leicht,  U. 
S.  Baer,  H.  J.  Mortenson,  New  Lisbon;  A.  C.  Johnson, 
Camp  Douglas;  Dr.  G.  H.  Parham,  Necedah;  J.  F.  Dith- 
mar,  Elroy ;  M.  L.  Bunnell,  Mauston. 

KENOSHA  COUNTY — W.  M.  Curtis,  Trevor ;  A.  E.  Buck- 
master,  F.  G.  Babcock,  R,  V.  Baker,  Kenosha;  F.  R. 
Lavey,  Charles  Marsch,  Frank  Rowbatton,  Bristol ;  Rich 
ard  Swanson,  John  T.  Thompson,  Wilmot;  Ward  Bloss, 
Salem;  Isaac  T.  Bishop,  Somers;  F.  W.  Robert,  Wood- 
worth;  Frank  Shuart,  Pleasant  Prairie. 

KEWAUNEE  COUNTY — Joseph  F.  Valecka,  Edwin  Al- 
bertson,  Carl  Schneider,  George  W.  Wing,  John  Dish- 
maker,  Thomas  Chapman,  Mat  Sinianek,  Joseph  G.  Wal- 
ecka,  Anton  Dishmaker,  George  R.  Wilbur,  M.  T.  Parker, 
Anton  G.  Schauer,  Kewaunee. 

LACROSSE  COUNTY — E.  M.  Wing,  John  E.  McConnell, 
Thomas  Morris,  Otto  Bosshard,  A.  M.  Brayton,  W.  B. 
Tscharner,  LaCrosse;  V.  S.  Keppel,  Holman;  S.  W. 
Brown,  William  Bradley,  T.  P.  Coburn,  West  Salem. 

LAFAYETTE  COUNTY — Harry  C.  Martin,  R.  J.  Wilson, 
Willis  R.  Law,  W.  J.  Hocking,  Darlington;  C.  C.  Ben 
nett,  South  Wayne;  James  McGinty,  T.  J.  Kilpatrick, 
Kendall ;  John  Waddington,  John  Powell,  Argyle ;  J.  J. 
Uren,  Peter  Olson,  Blanchardville ;  William  Keuling, 
William  Look,  Shullsburg,  Sherman  T.  Dodge,  George 


464  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

Watson,  New  Diggings;  A.  A.  Eastman,  Robert  Stuart, 
F.  H.  Underbill,  J.  J.  Iverson,  Wayne;  0.  M.  Richards, 
B.  F.  Buckmaster,  Fayette;  Harrison  Bragg,  Herod 
True,  Henry  Tipp,  Gratiot;  Robert  Farren,  Edward 
Bretz,  Dumbarton,  W.  B.  Vail,  John  Huntington,  Bel- 
mont;  0.  J.  Lovelass,  Ole  C.  Walden,  H.  C.  Larson, 
Charles  Arnott,  Julius  Engebretson,  Wiota;  H.  M. 
Bridgman,  Charles  Lancaster,  Lament;  Frank  Higgins, 
Darlington. 

LANGLADE  COUNTY — I.  D.  Steffen,  C.  0.  Marsh,  J.  J. 
Laughlin,  William  Ings,  H.  J.  Morgan,  Judge  W.  F. 
White,  Antigo. 

LINCOLN  COUNTY— W.  H.  Flett,  Ralph  E.  Smith,  F. 
H.  Hillyer,  F.  M.  Montgomery,  Frank  Debarr,  C.  S. 
Stimers,  J.  A.  Niles,  Oscar  Gagnon,  L.  A.  Jopke,  Victor 
Larson,  Merrill;  George  M.  Sheldon,  E.  W.  Whitson, 
Tomahawk;  H.  H.  Stolle,  Tripoli;  Amandus  Johnson, 
Spirit  Falls. 

MANITOWOC  COUNTY — Simon  Wehrwein,  Thomas  E. 
Torrison,  A.  J.  Torrison,  Dr.  G.  W.  Patchen,  A.  P. 
Schenian,  John  C.  Dedricks,  Carl  N.  Zander,  F.  J. 
Taugher,  Manitowoc;  Ole  Berge,  Valders;  August  Wils- 
mann,  Martin  Graus,  Two  Rivers;  Rudolph  Soukup, 
Nicholas  Scheuer,  John  Sporer,  G.  Koehler,  Mishicott; 
Frank  Kugle,  Cooperstown. 

MARATHON  COUNTY — H.  E.  McEachron,  W.  J.  Kregel, 
A.  F.  Marquardt,  L.  E.  Spencer,  Clyde  L.  Warren,  Fred 
Prehn,  W.  Melms,  John  King,  Wausau;  J.  W.  Salter, 
Unity ;  Dr.  W.  N.  Daniels,  Mosinee ;  Dr.  J.  Barber,  Mara 
thon  City. 

MARINETTE  COUNTY — Warren  J.  Davis,  Christ  John 
son,  Isaac  Stephenson,  E.  W.  LeRoy,  John  C.  Miller,  Dr. 
H.  W.  Coulter,  H.  J.  Van  Cleve,  J.  E.  Price,  Marinette. 

MARQUETTE  COUNTY — S.  W.  Butler,  F.  J.  Kimball, 
Montello;  Eben  S.  Hunt,  Endeavor;  E.  H.  Kempley, 
Packwaukee. 


APPENDIX  465 

MILWAUKEE  COUNTY — (See  story  of  year  1898). 

MONROE  COUNTY — Dr.  W.  T.  Sarles,  A.  F.  Brandt, 
Melvin  Lawton,  M.  H.  Earley,  T.  R.  Gillett,  L.  B.  Squire, 
George  P.  Stevens,  W.  E.  Nusum,  F.  A.  Holden,  Joseph 
D.  Beck,  W.  G.  Williams,  D.  C.  Beebe,  C.  W.  Beebe,  W. 

A.  Jones,  T.  C.  Longwell,  Alex  Nicol,  W.  E.  Bush,  A. 
J.   Torry,   Howard   Teasdale,   Thomas   Hobson,   George 
Gilbertson,  A.  E.  Evanson,  Al  Tester,  W.  E.  Bolton,  J. 
L.    Hefferman,   W.    A.    Hedding,   J.    Buswell,    Andrew 
Hutson,  R.  C.  Falconer. 

OCONTO  COUNTY — T.  E.  Mills,  Leslie  C.  Harvey, 
George  Beyer,  E.  A.  Edmonds,  Henry  Johnson,  Oliver 
Truedell. 

ONEIDA  COUNTY— W.  T.  Stevens,  E.  B.  Crawfoot, 
Alexander  J.  Cobban,  D.  D.  Stevens,  Samuel  T.  Walker, 
Carl  Krueger,  Prescott  Calkins,  S.  H.  Alban,  F.  A.  Low 
ell,  editor  New  North;  W.  V.  Reed,  Charles  Woodcock, 
Chris  H.  Roepcke,  H.  L.  Braeger,  Richard  Reed,  A.  M. 
Riley,  Olaf  Goldstrand,  Martin  E.  Berg,  Hans  Anderson. 
Hans  Rodd,  John  Didier,  John  Bernstein,  E.  0.  Brown, 
Rhinelander;  F.  S.  Campbell,  Andrew  Hanson,  Frank 
Federer,  Three  Lakes;  Willis  Jewell,  George  Jewell, 
Walter  Thurber,  John  Lubold,  Homer  McLaughlin,  Wil 
liam  Hardell. 

OUTAGAMIE  COUNTY — J.  Henry  Harbeck,  F.  M.  Wilcox. 

B.  C.  Wolter,  Charles  Clack,  T.  F.  Stark,  G.  R.  Downer, 
F.  E.  Clark,  George  D.  Wood,  Fred  Plainan,  C.  B.  Bal- 
lard,  Appleton;  Peter  Tubbs,  Seymour;  H.  M.  Culbert- 
son,  Medina ;  John  Mitchell,  Kaukauna. 

OZAUKEE  COUNTY — Eugene  S.  Turner,  Dr.  William  P. 
McGovern,  H.  L.  Coe,  A.  D.  Bolens,  Port  Washington; 
Henry  Wittenberg,  A.  R.  Buerner,  Cedarburg ;  Henry 
Mohrhusen,  Sr.,  Henry  Mohrhusen,  Jr.,  Thiensville. 

PEPIN  COUNTY — W.  V.  Dorwin.  Burr  W.  Tarrant,  C. 
A.  Ingram,  C.  H.  Schleuter.  M.  H.  Newcomb,  Pepin ;  A. 


466  LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

T.  Josephson,  Stockholm;  Frank  Eckler,  Frankfort;  H. 
M.  Mills,  Arkansaw ;  Andrew  Rohrscheit,  Albany. 

PIERCE  COUNTY — N.  P.  Haugen,  \V.  D.  Parker,  Frank 
Ensign,  C.  E.  Hanson,  River  Falls;  W.  C.  Oltman,  Oluff 
Halls,  J.  F.  Shaw,  Ellsworth ;  Walter  C.  Owen,  Maiden 
Rock;  Herman  Peterson,  Martell;  John  Thompson,  Gil- 
man. 

POLK  COUNTY— Adolph  Larson,  C.  W.  Staples,  Dr.  H. 
E.  Combacker,  Osceola ;  Cassius  W.  Monty,  L.  B.  Dresser. 
St.  Croix  Falls;  Axel  Johnson,  Turtle  Lake. 

PORTAGE  COUNTY — L.  R.  Larson,  Dr.  R.  D.  Rood,  A. 
R.  Week,  C.  D.  McFarland,  J.  J.  Nelson,  L.  J.  N.  Murat. 
George  B.  Nelson,  F.  H.  Timm,  Gerhard  M.  Dahl,  M.  0. 
Wrolstad,  F.  B.  Lamoreux,  Carl  0.  Doxrud. 

PRICE  COUNTY — Thomas  Holland,  Park  Falls;  C.  D, 
Fenelon,  W.  T.  Lippets,  W.  K.  Parkinson,  J.  R.  Farr, 
Phillips;  F.  J.  Salter,  C.  F.  Lindberg,  Prentice;  August 
Heiden,  Ogema;  P.  H.  Hammar,  Catawba. 

RACINE  COUNTY — C.  C.  Gittings,  Racine;  John  0. 
Thomas,  H.  F.  Johnson,  Caledonia;  George  West,  J.  H. 
Kamper,  Joseph  Hay,  Franksville ;  J.  II.  Smith,  Kansas- 
ville;  John  T.  Rice,  Edward  Mills,  Burlingtonj  jTohn 
Gittings,  J.  &  Blakey,  Union  Grove. 

RICIIL AND' COUNTY— Levi  H.  Bancroft,  R.  H.  DeLap. 
H.  J.  Clark,  C.  R.  Thomson,  D.  G.  James,  William  Gil- 
lingham,  John  Shireman,  Dr.  A.  D.  Campbell,  A.  M. 
Turgeson,  Charles  Baker,  Richland  Center ;  J.  C.  Thorpe. 
Tavera;  Ed.  Bender,  Viola;  Ole  Goplin,  Boaz;  R.  E.  Mc 
Carthy,  Hub  City ;  Fred  Noyes,  Cazenovia ;  W.  A.  Shaw. 
Loyd ;  Griff  Miles,  Twin  Bluffs ;  Frank  Brown,  Gotham. 

ROCK  COUNTY — Frank  P.  Starr,  Stewart  Heddles,  Vic 
tor  Richardson,  Janesville;  Perry  C.  Wilder,  F.  W.  Gil- 
man,  George  L.  Pullen,  A.  C.  Gray,  Charles  E.  Moore. 
Evansville;  L.  E.  Gettle,  T.  B.  Earle,  Hugh  Mclnnis, 
John  Mawhinney,  Edgerton;  Robert  Dowd,  C.  D.  Rosa, 
Harry  W.  Adams,  Beloit;  Eric  Haugen,  H.  C.  Taylor, 


APPENDIX  467 

Edward  Eagen,  Orfordville;  E.  C.  McGowan,  J.  H. 
Owen,  Milton  Junction ;  Ezra  Goodrich,  Milton. 

ST.  CROIX  COUNTY — James  A.  Frear,  Samuel  J.  Brad 
ford,  Dr.  Lawrence  P.  Mayer,  Robert  Dinsmore,  L.  B. 
Nagler,  Hudson ;  Henry  Anderson,  0.  K.  Hawley,  H.  S. 
Offerdahl,  Baldwin;  George  Oakes,  S.  N.  Hawkins,  New 
Richmond. 

SAUK  COUNTY — Dr.  Charles  Gorst,  Wilbur  Cahoon, 
John  M.  True,  E.  F.  Dithmar,  J.  B.  Donovan,  A.  G. 
Buckley,  M.  L.  Reynolds,  Baraboo;  James  A.  Stone. 
Reedsburg. 

SAWYER  COUNTY — Hans  Fuley,  0.  H.  Osmundsen, 
Hayward. 

SHAWANO  COUNTY — Jonas  Swenholt,  I.  R.  Nye,  E.  A. 
Ketcham,  Wittenberg ;  E.  V.  Werner,  Anton  Kuckuk,  W. 
E.  Wilson,  Dr.  H.  W.  Partlow,  M.  J.  Wallrich,  Shawano. 

SHEBOYGAN  COUNTY — Otto  Gaffron,  E.  B.  Mattoon,  E. 
Mclntyre,  E.  J.  Keyes,  J.  G.  End,  Henry  Krumrey, 
Charles  Pfeifer,  August  G.  Myers,  R.  I.  Warner,  A.  D. 
Del/and,  Dr.  J.  E.  Kingsley,  August  H.  Ouehl,  Herman 
Loessing,  Charles  A.  Born. 

TAYLOR  COUNTY — Peter  Liberty,  Stetsonville ;  G.  W. 
Adams,  J.  B.  Hagarty,  E.  L.  Urquhart,  W.  E.  Hibbard, 
Medford;  W.  H.  Allen,  Chelsea;  Frank  M.  Perry,  A. 
Premeau,  Westboro;  J.  J.  Vormastek,  Louis  Olson,  Rib 
Lake. 

TREMPEALEAU  COUNTY — Elmer  Immel,  Blair;  Frank 
A.  Kellman,  Herman  L.  Ekern,  Whitehall ;  H.  H.  Lewis. 
Hale ;  Erick  J.  Brovold,  Ole  Semb,  Ettrick ;  B.  M.  Slette- 
land,  Pigeon  Falls;  Edward  J.  Hagen,  Sivert  Reckstad, 
Osseo ;  Jorgen  Olson,  Eleva ;  John  C.  Muir.  A.  C.  Gil- 
bertson,  Arcadia. 

VERNON  COUNTY — Oliver  G.  Munson,  Frank  Tatem, 
William  Kingston,  Dr.  M.  Sorenson,  C.  J.  Smith,  Dr. 
Fred  Wilkins,  Viroqua ;  A.  H.  Dahl,  Brown  Olson,  West- 
by ;  J.  J.  Marshall,  LaFarge ;  Engebret  Hage,  Harmony  ; 
John  Foster. 


468  LAFOLLKTTK'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 

VILAS  COUNTY — James  Oberholtzer,  Al  Croker,  Wil 
liam  Adams,  Alexander  Higgins,  Eagle  River;  Julius 
Dickman,  John  Frank,  Donaldson ;  Denis  Paqnette, 
Arbor  Vitae. 

WALWORTH  COUNTY — Edward  Eames,  Samuel  Mitch 
ell,  E.  J.  Hooper,  E.  H.  Sprague,  Robert  Lean,  Sidney 
C.  Goff,  John  Snyder,  editor  Independent;  S.  P.  Morri 
son,  Elkhorn;  Maurice  Morrissey,  editor  Delavan  Repub 
lican,  Delavan;  Fred  Kull,  Lake  Geneva. 

WASHBURN  COUNTY — Andrew  Ryan,  editor  Washburn 
Register;  A.  A.  Lavall,  James  Wynne,  Frank  Pease, 
Shell  Lake;  Ole  Soholt,  Madge. 

WASHINGTON  COUNTY — Don  Maxon,  Schlesingerville ; 
P.  W.  Graemer,  Rockfield;  L.  D.  Guth,  Kewaskum; 
Lorenz  Guth,  C.  F.  Leins,  West  Bend ;  C.  L.  Brink,  Hart 
ford. 

WAUKESHA  COUNTY — S.  E.  Gernon,  0.  P.  Clinton, 
Frank  Shultis,  Theron  W.  Haight,  Henry  Lockney,  Wau- 
kesha;  Roderick  Ainsworth,  Merton;  George  E.  Hoyt, 
Menomonee  Falls ;  J.  A.  Peacock,  L.  J.  Lehman,  William 
Kittle,  John  Bartlett,  Dr.  J.  J.  Pink,  William  Meadows, 
Adam  Blanchard,  Oconomowoc;  Charles  Solverson, 
Nashotah;  Esau  Beumont,  Hartland;  H.  M.  Youmans, 
Waukesha. 

WAUPACA  COUNTY — E.  E.  Browne,  Fred  Roche,  John 
Madsen,  W.  H.  Holmes,  W.  O.  Ware,  A.  R.  Potts,  Wau- 
paca;  Dr.  H.  A.  Meileke,  Clintonville ;  Dr.  W.  Irvine, 
Manawa;  N.  C.  Nelson,  Barney  Peterson,  Gunder  Bergen, 
Tola;  Thomas  Thoreson,  James  Anderson,  Scandinavia; 
W.  H.  Hatton,  W.  H.  Dick,  W.  E.  Lipke,  New  London ; 
George  E.  Beedle,  George  Delaney,  Embarrass;  Emil 
Steiger,  Fremont. 

WAUSHARA  COUNTY — Buchanan  Johnson,  W.  D.  Cor- 
rigan,  Plainfield;  Michael  O'Connor,  Charles  O'Connor. 
Hancock;  Byron  0.  Storms,  E.  F.  Kileen,  E.  G.  Keup, 
Wautoma ;  David  Evans,  Jr.,  Berlin. 


APPENDIX  469 

WINNEBAGO  COUNTY — A.  J.  Barber,  Herman  Daus, 
W.  N.  Armington,  R.  L.  Clark,  E.  R.  Hicks,  Oshkosh; 
W.  E.  Hurlbut,  C.  H.  Larrabee,  J.  N.  Tittemore,  S.  Leigh- 
ton,  Omro ;  Daniel  Jones,  Poygan ;  Charles  Appley,  Rush- 
ford;  John  A.  Fridd,  Nepenskum;  Joseph  Hill,  Nels 
Radick,  Menasha;  J.  H.  Dennhardt,  John  Strange,  H.  J. 
Frank,  S.  B.  Baird,  B.  E.  Pride,  E.  Van  Slyke,  Neenah ; 
Fred  Palmer,  Clayton;  M.  F.  White,  George  Miller, 
David  Fredenburg,  Winneconne ;  H.  0.  Stromme,  A.  C. 
Jorgenson,  Kittle  Knutson,  Joseph  D.  Hough,  Win 
chester;  Timothy  Allen,  Sr.,  Vinland;  Daniel  Shea, 
Utica;  A.  T.  Grundy,  L.  H.  Thompson,  George  Jones, 
William  Jones,  town  of  Neenah;  John  Hicks,  Oshkosh. 

WOOD  COUNTY — Frank  A.  Cady,  W.  D.  Connor,  John 
White,  George  Upham,  Evan  Upham,  E.  E.  Winch,  R 
L.  Kraus,  P.  N.  Christensen,  R.  E.  Andrew,  Marshfield: 
A.  L.  Fontaine,  T.  W.  Brazeau,  Grand  Rapids;  J.  Gold- 
worthy,  Nicholas  Streveler,  Vesper. 


A  TRIBUTE  FROM  EARLY  DAYS 

Eureka  Springs,  Ark.,  April   17,  191 '2. 
Mr.  A.  O.  Barton,  Madison,  Wis. 

Dear  Sir:  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  communication  of  February 
19,  asking  a  short  article  from  me  regarding  what  I  know  of 
Robert  M.  LaFollette  during  Ijis  early  boyhood.  I  am  indeed  glad 
that  I  am  permitted  to  say  a  word  concerning,  in  any  way  or  any 
part,  the  life  of  such  a  grand  and  noble  champion  of  human 
rights  and  freedom  of  the  masses,  as  we  know  Robert  to  bo. 

My  father,  Joel  Britts,  moved  to  Wisconsin  in  the  spring  of 
1848,  from  Ladoga,  Ind.,  settling  in  Primrose  township,  Dane 
county,  21  miles  southwest  of  Madison.  I  was  at  that  time  ten 
years  of  age  and  well  remember  that  neighbors  were  not  numerous, 
as  some  of  our  most  intimate  ones  lived  from  two  to  four  miles 
from  us.  At  that  time  roving  bands  of  Indiana  were  familiar 
sights  and  constant  vigilance  was  necessary  to  protect  our  sheep, 
pigs  and  in  fact  all  young  stock  from  the  flocks  of  wolves,  lynx 
and  bobcats  that  infested  the  country  at  that  time.  My  father 
and  brothers  built  and  ran  the  well-known  Britts'  grist  mill  west 
of  Mt.  Vernon. 


470  L.\FOLLKTTE'S    WINNING    OF    WISCONSIN 

Josiah  LaFollette  came  from  tlie  same  part  of  Indiana  that  my 
parents  did  and  settled  within  two  miles  of  us.  I  do  not  remem 
ber  the  exact  date  of  their  coming.  Having  been  old  neighbors  in 
Indiana,  we  were,  of  course,  quite  intimate.  The  family,  as  I 
knew  it  later  on  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  LaFollette,  Helen 
Buchanan,  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  LaFollette  by  a  previous  marriage; 
William  T.  LaFollette,  Josephine  and  Robert  Marion.  The  eldest 
daughter,  Helen,  was  a  bright  and  splendid  girl.  All  the  boys 
were  in  love  with  her,  but  I  admired  her  most  of  any  of  them,  be 
cause  she  was  the  only  one  in  all  that  section  who  could  spell  me 
down  at  our  spelling  schools.  Dean  Eastman  came  and  stole  our 
Helen  from  us.  He  may  be  all  right  to  this  day,  but  it  would 
require  evidence  to  convince  me  of  the  fact. 

Next  in  the  family  was  William,  a  sturdy,  sensible  boy  who  took 
kindly  to-  the  hard  work  we  were  all  expected  to  do,  but  was  of  a 
studious  turn  and  proved  far  above  the  mediocre  in  grasping  the 
slender  straws  of  advantage  that  blew  our  way  in  those  days. 

Next  came  Josephine,  and  a  darling  waif  was  she,  of  bright 
penetrating  eyes  with  a  twinkle  of  merriment  that  savored  of  the 
1 1 1  've-got-you-cornered ' '  spirit  when  she  beat  me  at  playing  ' '  tit- 
tat-toe. ' ' 

Last  in  the  family  came  little  Bobbie.  He  was  plump  and  full- 
fledged  as  a  baby  should  be,  but  there  seemed  nothing  about  him 
then  to  mark  him  as  a  superior  chunk  of  clay.  There  were  other 
babies  as  pretty  and  cute  as  he  but  somehow  Bobbie  had  a  way 
of  his  own,  and  it  was  a  winning  way,  as  he  always  gained  his 
point  in  everything  he  set  himself  about.  Where  did  he  get  this 
manner  and  his  indomitable  will — his  steadfast  determination  to 
do  certain  things  and  to  do  them  right?  Well,  I  will  tell  you. 
He  received  them  from  his  mother.  He  inherited  the  talent  and 
then  cultivated  it  later  on. 

I  well  remember  a  man  by  the  name  of  Peter  Nace,  who  lived 
on  the  road  to  Black  Earth,  a  Virginian  by  birth,  who  had  come 
north  in  an  early  day.  He  was  a  man  above  the  average  and  a 
leader  in  thought.  I  remember  one  night  when  he  was  staying 
with  us  he  and  my  father  were  discussing  the  merits  of  Lincoln 
and  Douglas  while  these  men  were  rivals  for  senatorial  honors. 
My  father  remarked  that  while  Abe  Lincoln  was  not  as  polished 
by  education  as  was  Mr.  Douglas,  yet  he  seemed  to  be  the  abler 
man.  Mr.  Nace  at  once  replied,  "That's  d\ie  to  his  mother," 
then  added: 

"When  you  are  talking  about  your  great  man  tell  me  about  his 
mother  and  T  will  tell  you  about  liiin.  T  care  nothing  about  the 


APPENDIX 


471 


father,  but  the  mother  must  have  been  a  superior  woman  if  your 
great  man  is  genuine." 

How    truly    this    statement    applies    to    Little    Bobbie    and    his 
mother.     While  his  father  was  a  man  of  strong  intellectual  cast, 


JOEL  BRITTS, 
Prominent  Early  Settler  of  Primrose,   Wis. 

1  know  but  little  of  him  personally,  as  he  died  when  Robert  was  a 
mere  baby,  but  the  mother  I  well  remember  as  a  most  lovable  and 
sensible  woman,  logical  and  sane  in  all  her  plans  and  decisions, 
ever  kind  and  considerate  in  her  family  circle  and  toward  her 
neighbors,  and  in  all  a  most  estimable  character,  whom  everyone 
knowing  her  loved  for  her  intrinsic  value  as  a  friend. 

I  knew  Robert  up  to  the  age  of  twelve  as  a  shrewd,  sagacious 
boy,  not  free  from  the  general  character  of  boys  of  his  age — and 


472 


LAFOLLETTE' S    WINNING    OF    WISCONSIN 


many  was  the  cunning  joke  lie  perpetrated  oil  those  around  him, 
especially  on  his  stepfather,  "Uncle  John"  Saxton. 

My  wife  and  I  visited  the  family  shortly  after  our  marriage  and 
on  our  way  to  Minnesota.  They  lived  at  Argyle  at  the  time  and 
Robert  had  carried  water  to  the  elephant  for  a  free  ticket  to  a 
circus  that  had  strayed  into  Argyle,  and  his  services  were  so  well 
appreciated  that  the  showman  while  feeding  guinea  pigs  to  the 
boa  constrictor  gave  Bob  two  of  the  smallest  ones  because  of  his 
pathetic  plea  to  spare  their  lives.  Later  on  those  young  guineas 
became  a  nuisance  and  Bob  asked  as  a  favor  that  I  accept  them  as 
a  wedding  present,  which  I  gladly  did,  and  when  leaving  I  pre 
sented  him  with  a  silver  dollar.  I  have  a  letter  from  him  since  he 
became  a  United  States  senator  saying:  "I  used  to  look  at  that 
dollar  and  see  visions  of  fortune  loom  up  before  my  mental  horizon 
in  the  near  future."  But  as  the  fortune  never  has  materialized, 
I  suppose  more  noble  aspirations  dominated  his  mental  and  spir 
itual  nature,  as  we  see  him  today,  a  poor  man  comparatively,  bat 
tling  fearlessly  for  human  rights  when  we  all  know  he  might  have 
been  an  easy  going  man  of  wealth  had  he  chosen  to  serve  mammon 
instead  of  his  fellows. 

If  our  country  should  need  a  strong  pilot  along  the  course  of 
statecraft  a  safer  or  saner  man  could  not  be  found  for  the  job 
than  our  own  Senator  Robert  Marion  LaFollette.  There  would  not 
even  be  the  semblance  of  an  experiment  in  trying  him,  as  he  has 
been  thoroughly  tested  in  administrative  ability.  What  he  ha.* 
done  for  Wisconsin  he  could  and  would  do  for  the  United  States. 

SAM  H.  BRITTS. 


Old   LaFollette   Farm.    Primrose,   Wis., 
August,    1919 


INDEX 

(Except  list  of  names  in  Appendix). 


Abel,  T.  P.,  191 
Adams,  H.  C.,  65,  133,  171 
Adams,  H.  W.,   191 
Ainsworth,  Eoderick     C.,     231, 

233 

Aldrich,  C.  H.,  30 
Anderson,  John,  57,  444 
Anderson,  W.  J.,  362,  418 
Andrew,  E.  M.,  61 
Andrew,  W.  W.,  231,  233,  237 
Avery,  C.  H.,  444 

Babcock,  J.  W.,  143,  157,  309, 

379 

Bader,  B.,  123 
Baensch,  Emil,    136,    295,    363, 

379 

Bahr,  A.  L.,  311 
Bahr,  Wm.,  123 
Baker,  H.  C.,  348 
Barber,  W.  E.,  300 
Bancroft,  L.  H.,  172,  202,  308, 

356,  358 

Barker,  Charles,  173,  252 
Barnes,  John,  405 
Barney,  S.  S.,  68 
Barton,  A.  O.,  1 
Bashford,  E.  M.,  405 
Baumgartner,  H.   J.,   116,    118, 

122,  131 

Beach,  Z.  P.,  273 
Beedle,  G.  E.,  232 
Bennett,  C.  C.,  396 
Beveridge,  A.  J.,  21,  40 
Elaine,  John  J.,  235 
Bomrieh,  L.  G.,  164,  213,  398 
Bourne,  J.,  21,  25,  30 
Boorse,  W.,  123 
Borah,  W.  E.,  21 
Bradford,  I.  B.,  66,  139,  235 
Bradford,  S.  J.,  403 
Bradley,  H.  E.,  123 
Brady,  C.   E.,   296 


Brandeis,  L.  D.,  15,  31 

Brew,  George,  119 

Brew,  M.  J.,  123 

Bridgman,  L.  W.,  330 

Brinn,  J.,    123 

Bristow,  J.  L.,  21,   30 

Britts,  Joel,  469 

Britts,  S.  H.,  470 

Brown,  Neal,  221,  398 

Bryan,  W.  J.,  26,  210,  214,  383 

Bryant,  G.  E.,  54,  66,  138,  156, 

159,  264,  352 
Bruce,  W.   G.,  398 
Buell,  C.  E.,  448 
Buckstaff,  G.  A.,  203 
Buiin,  Eomanzo,   347 
Bushnell,  A.  E.,  82 

Cady,  F.  A.,  173,  237,  251,  267 
Cannon,  J.  G.,  22 
Cary,  W.  J.,  22,  30 
Carpenter,  Matt  H.,  40 
Cary,  C.  P.,  195,  200,  203 
Cassoday,  J.  B.,  407 
Casson,  Henry,  143,  310 
Castle,  Bryan  J.,  448 
Chatterton,  Fenimore,  444 
Cheney,  A.  J.,  273 
Chynoweth,  H.  W.,  54,  66,  172, 

204,  331,  361,  405 
Choinski,  E.  W.,  119,  122 
Cleary,  T.  L.,  398 
Clapp,  M.  E.,  30 
Clancey,  J.  M.,  398 
Cochems,  H.  W.,  2033,  271,  191, 

136,  339,  386 
Connor,  W.    D.,    67,    331,    367, 

379,  404 

Conrad,  J.  H.,  123 
Cowling,  W.  C.,  232,  359 
Corrigan,  J.  E.,  119 
Clementson,  G.  B.,  296 
Cooper,  H.  A.,  22,  30 


474 


LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 


Cook,  S.  A.,  295,  364,  366 
Comstock,  H.  S.,   66,  264 
Crampton,  Nat,  304 
Crane,  Chas.  E.,  30,  31 
Crawford,  Arthur  W.,  330 
Crawford,  Coe  I.,  21,  30 
Cummins,  A.  B.,  21,  30,  444 
Curtis,  Benjamin  E.,  39 
Curtis,  H.  K.,   123 
Curtis,  Sumner  M.,  201 
Curtis,  Wardon  A.,  305 
Curtis,  W.  D.,  338 
Cotzhausen,  F.  W.,  213 

Dahl,  A/  H.,  167,  231,  233,  251. 

430 

Dahle,  H.  B.,  193 
Daley,  B.  J.,  90 
Davidson,  J.   O.,   99,   136,   195, 

206,  371 

Davis,  Charles  E.,  22 
Dennhardt,  J.  H.,  437 
Denu,  Albert  E.,  434 
Dielman,  Charles,  119,  122 
Dilyer,  T.  P.,  123 
Dingley,  F.  L.,  31 
Dixon,  Joseph  M.,  30 
Dolliver,  J.  P.,  21,  33 
Dodge,  A.  J.,  Ill 
Doerfler,  Christian,  122 
Dousman,  T.  P.,  403 
Drake,  E.  W.,  230 
Duerrwachter,  P.  G.,  173 
Duke,  W.  T.,  119,  123,  397 
Dunn,  Nellie,  394 
Donald,  John  S.,  232 
Douglas,  M.  C.,  201 
Dow,  J.  G.,  299 
Drew,  Walter,  235 

Eastman,  Dean,  470 
Eaton,  B.  A.,  235 
Elkert,  Charles,  119 
Elliott,  Eugene  S.,  118 
Ekern,  Herman    L.,    232,    233. 

327 

Elward,  E.  A.,  334 
Erickson,  Halford  E.,  235,  271, 

410 


Erickson,  John  L.,  57,  371 
Erdall,  John  L.,  193 
Esau,  Charles,  123 
Estabrook,  C.  E.,  136 
Evans,  David,    Jr.,     173,     192, 

231,  451 

Evarts,  William  M.,  39 
Everett,  Winter,  326 

Fiebrantz,  Charles,  122 

Fink,  Henry,  172,  383 

Foster,  G.  A.,  122 

Frazier,  E.  E,,  384 

Frear,  James  A.,  172,  232,  237. 

251,  367,  428 
Froehlich,  W.  H.,  206 

Garfield,  James  E.,  31 
Gaveney,  John  C.,  400-1 
Gerbardt,  William,  123 
Gernon,  S.  E.,  403 
Gettle,  L.  E.,  203 
Geuder,  William,  117 
Gibbs,  E.  F.,  448 
Gill,  T.  H.,  144 
Gittings,  C.  C.,  380 
Grassie,  George  F.,  322 
Gratz,  A.  W.,  448 
Griffin,  Michael,  73 
Gronna,  A.  J.,  30,  32 
Groves,  John  W.,   100 

Halm,  Otto  L.,  123 

Haight,  Theron  W.,  193 

Hall,  Albert    E.,    73,    93,    103, 

167,   173,  181,   136,   138,   231, 

232,  356,  438 
Halbert,  H.  T.,  31 
Hannan,  John  J.,  104,  119,  133, 

224,  323,  393,  433,  434 
Harbeck,  J.  H.,  222 
Harlowe,  David,  119,  123 
Harper,  J.  C.,  171,  445 
Harper,  Samuel  A.,  51,  79,  109, 

117 

Harris,  John,  67,  273-4 
Harshaw,  H.  B.,  43 
Hart,  C.  P.,  122 
Harvey,  L.  D.,  203,  219 
Hartung,  Fred,  233 


I.NDKX 


475 


Hatton,  W.  H.,  233,  280 
Haugen,  G.  N.,  23,  31 
Haugen,  N.    P.,    33,    157,    244, 

371 

Haven,  Spencer,  362 
Hayden,  H.  H.,  172 
Hayes,  A.  E.,  23 
Heineman,  Fred,  222 
Heney,  Francis  J.,  31 
Hicks,  E.  R.,  223,  356 
Hidden,  Walter  S.,  66 
Hiestand,  Bob  E.,  388 
Hoar,  E.  R.,  39 
Hoard,  William    D.,    185,    204, 

377 

Ilolman,  Nels,  194 
Holmes,  Fred  L.,  330 
Houser,  Walter    L.,    206,    380, 

386,  402,  410 
Hoven,  M.  J.,  174 
Howard,  R.  F.,  72 
Host,  Zeno   M.,   119,   122,   195, 

206,  408 

Howe,  Fred  C.,  31 
Hubbard,  E.  H.,  23,  30,  31 
Huber,  Henry  A.,  378,  393 
Hudnall,  George  B.,  359 
Hyde,  F.  F.,  119,  122 

Ingersoll,  Cham,  152 
Irvine,  W.  S.,  251 

Jackson,  Fred  S.,  31 

Jeffris,  M.    G.,    103,    347,    359, 

437 

Jenkins,  J.  J.,  155 
Johnson,  Henry,  151,  231,  233, 

251 

Johnson,  Hiram,  30 
Johnson,  O.  W.,  296 
Jones,  A.  M.  ("Long"),  139, 

151-2,  156,  221,  235,  279 
Jones,  Clarence,  31 
Jones,  Thomas  J.,  486 
Jordan,  E.  S.,  330 
Joys,  John,  122 


Keene,    F.    l>.,    17:'> 

Keep,  Albert,  38 

Kelley,  M.  1).,  119 

Kelsey,  C.  H.,  325 

Kempf,  John    J.,    117-18,    119, 

123,  195,  206,  394 
Kendall,  N.  E.,  23 
Kent,  William,  30,  31 
Kerens,  R.  C.,  388 
Kerwin,  J.  C.,  311 
Keyes,  E.  W.,  64,  69,  155,  159, 

285,  384 

Kimberley,  O.  E.,  163 
King,  William,  434 
Kinney,  O.  G.,  251 
Knoff,"  R.   E.,  330 
Kopp,  Arthur  W.,  22 
Kress,  H.  G.,  141 
Kreutzberg,  L.  J.,  119,  122 
Kreutzer,  A.  L.,  235 
Kronshage,  Theodore,  117,  397 
Kull,  Fred,  349 
Kuolt,  Albert  E.,  117-18,  120 
Kurtz,  Adolph,  123 

LaFollette,  Josiah,  470 
LaFollette,  Mrs.   Mary,   127 
LaFollette,  Mrs.      Robert      M., 

157,  245,  351 

LaFollette,  William  L.,  31 
LaFollette,  William  T.,  470 
Lando,  N.  M.,  119 
Lenroot,  Irvine  L.,  22,  30,  31. 

192,  231,  233,  235 
Leroy,  E.  W.,  231,  251 
Lewis,  Evan,  349 
Lewis,  Hugh,  390,  392,  439 
Lindbergh,  C.  A.,  22,  31 
Lindsay,  B.  B.,  25 
Loftus,  George  S.,  31 
Long,  A.  H.,  66,  69,  136 
Luse,  L.  K.,  311 
Lorenz,  F.  C.,  119,  122 
Lundy,  Ira,  122 
Lush,'  Charles  K.,  410 
Lund,  T.  C.,  65 


Kayser,  A.  H.,  348,  353 
Kearney,  T.  M.,  398 


Maas,  C.  C.,  119 
Madison,  E.  H.,  31 


476 


LAFOLLKTTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 


Manahan,  James  A.,  417 
Markert,  A.,  119 
Marlett,  James,  119,  122 
Marsh,  C.  O.,  353,  426 
Marshall,  E.  D.,  406 
Martin,  H.  A.,  119 
Martin,  H.  C.,  235 
Martin,  P.  H.,  213 
Matheson,  A.   E.,   273 
Mayer,  S.  F.,  296 
Meggett,  A.  A.,  303,  384 
Menges,  C.  A.,  119,  123 
McEachron,  H.  E.,  151 
McCabe,  M.  M.,  173 
McCarthy,  Charles  II.,  272 
McElroy,  W.  J.,  122 
McFetridge,  E.  C.,  43 
McGee,  James,  123 
McGillivray,  J.  J.,  66,  235,  279 
McGovern,  Francis  E.,  30,  118. 

120 

McGovern,  J.  J.,  118,  122,  129 
McKenzie,  J.   C.,   403 
Miller,  George  P.,  170 
Miller,  William,   394 
Mitchell,  Alexander,  38 
Monahan,  J.  G.,  152,  171,  383 
Morgan,  H.  H.,  296,  303,  384 
Morse,  E.  A.,  22 
Murdock,  Victor,  22,  31 
Murphy,  Jerre  C.,  77,  142,  192 

323 
Myrick,  H.  P.,  146-7,  380 

Nace,  Peter,  470 

Nelson,  Jennie,  394 

Nelson,  John  M.,  22,  30,  66,  69. 

303,  416,  434 
Nelson,  Thomas  P.,  448 
Newall,  G.  A.,  445 
Norman,  James  L.,  119 
Norris,  George  W.,  22,  30,  31 

O'Connor,  Charles,  439 
O'Connor,  J.  L.,  42,  213,  398 
Odland,  M.  W.,  299 
Olbrich,  M.  B.,  303 
Olin,  John  M.,  386,  402 
Olson,  Julius   E.,  56 


Orton,  P.  A.,  152,  177,  231,  232 
Osborne,  A.  L.,  251 
Osborn,  Chase  30 
Overbeck,  Henry,  231 

Paine,  C.  M.,  119,  122 
Paringer,  Ferd.,  122 
Parker,  D.  T.,  126,  403    ' 
Payne,  Henry  C.,  57,  116,  141, 

379,  400 

Peck,  George  K.,  243,  273 
Peck,  George  W.,  293,  399 
Peck,  H.  E.  L.,  230 
Peterson,  Atley,  66 
Peterson,  S.  A.,  115,  296 
Peterson,  James  A.,  31 
Petherick,  E.  R.,  317 
Pfister,  Charles  F.,  43,  70,  184 

201,  324 

Philipp,  E.  L.,  169,  204,  238 
Peterman,  G.  W.,  119,  122 
Pinchot,  Gifford,  30,  31 
Poindexter,  Miles,  22,  31 
Pollard,  Levi,  349 
Poppendieck,  John,  201 
Powell,  W.  W.,  319 
Pullen,  C.  F.  P.,  119,  120,  126 

127 

Puls,  Theodore,  122 
Purtell,  T.  M.,  396 

Quarles,  Charles,  438 
Quarles,  Joseph    V.,    365,    379, 
442 

Rader,  J.   (\,  123 
Rauschenberger,  W.  G.,  116 
Rawson,  M.  J.,  198 
Ray,  G.  H.,  167,  231,  235,  252 
Record,  George  L.,  27,  30 
Reinholdt,  George,   119 
Reinholdt,  H.  D.,  119 
Richardson,  W.  H.,  131 
Richter,  W.  A.,  347 
Riddle,  W.  M.,  444 
Riley,  Charles  G.,  297 
Riordon,  D.  E.,  452 
King,  M.  C.,  256 
Roberts,  J.  C.,  445 


INDEX 


477 


Roe,  G.  E.,  31,  125,  135,  386 

Rogers,  Earl  M.,  139,  152 

Epgers,  C.  C.,  365 

Rogers,  W.  H.,  213 

Rogers,  Tom,  123 

Roethe,  H.  E.,  184 

Rose,  D.  F.,  116,  209,  217,  230 

398 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,     31,     48. 

380 

Root,  W.  L.,  251 
Rosenberry,  M.    B.,    296,    353. 

356 

Ross,  E.  A.,  23,  27,  253 
Rossman,  Geo.  P.,  177,  231 
Roth,  John,  123 
Rublee,  Horace,  45 
Ryan,  E.  G.,  39 
Ryan,  T.  E.,  398 

Salisbury,  A.,  122 
Sarles,  W.  T.,  403 
Sawyer,  H.  W.,  137 
Sawyer,  Philetus,    42 
Saxton,  John,  127 
Schmitz,  O.  J.,  398,  213 
Schoenfield,  W.  D.,  330 
Schuster,  O.  J.,  204 
Schmidt,  Richard,  119,  122 
Schoelkopf,  L.  F.,  434 
Scofield,  Edwara,  102,  133,  151. 

166,  206,  265,  408 
Seiael,  Emil,  230 
Seiael,  Otto,   123 
Shaffer,  C.  E.,  448 
Sheasby,  Frea,  300 
Sheiaon,  S.  L.,  285 
Sheriffs,  T.  W.,  119,  122 
Siebecker,  R.  G.,  42 
Silkworth,  C.  A.,   173 
Souther,  F.  T.,  123 
Smethurst,  Joseph,  99 
Smith,  W.  H.,  403 
Sonnemann,  August,  119 
Spence,  T.  W.,  347,  358 
Spooner,  John  C.,  51,  98,  113, 

140,  153,  202,  255,  365,   379, 

440 
Spooner,  P.  L.,  293,  296 


Spooner,  R.   C.,  51 

Starkey,  D.  B.,  183 

Stebbins,  Dewayne,    139,    152, 

156 

Steenslana,  Halle,   65 
Steffens,  Lincoln,  417 
Stelloh,  G'eorge,    123 
Stephenson,  Isaac,  145,  379 
Stevens,  E.  Ray,  170,  173 
Stevenson,  W.,  123 
Stiles,  L.  B.,   123 
Stondall,  A.   M.,  434 
Stone,  J.  A.,  403 
Stoessel,  A.  J.,  119,  123 
Strange,  John,  162,  185 
Stout,  J.  H.,  66,  235,  155,  379 

390 

Stubbs,  W.  R.,  30 
Sturaevant,  L.    M.,    173,    195. 

206,  231 
Sturtevant,  J.  L.,  296,  310 

Tarrant,  W.  D.,  118,  119,  122 

Taylor,  H.  A.,  64 

Taylor,  W.  R.,  37 

Tews,  A.  G.  H.,  123 

Thorn,  H.  C.,  51 

Thomas,  J.  W.,   195,   206,   252, 

282 

Thompson,  Torger,  194,  252 
Thuring,  Geo.,  123 
Tiiaen,  Eawara,  270 
Tomkiewicz,  J.  W.  S.,  119,  123 
Toaa,  S.  B.,  273 
Torge,  A.  T.,  261,  434 
Tracy,  E.  L.,  131 
Troyer,   Henry,   123 
Treat,  J.  B.,  155,  296 
Trumpf,  C.  H.,  118,  120 
Tucker,  F.   T.,  160 
Tupper,  C.  A.,  235 

Umfriea,  Emil,  125 
Upham,  W.   H.,   66,   365 
U'Ren,  W.  S.,  31 

Van  Altema,  W.  E.,  119 
Van  Cleave,  H.  J.,  403 
Vanderboom,  E.  J.,  349 


478 


LAFOLLETTE'S  WINNING  OF  WISCONSIN 


Vallier,  Joseph,  1.19 
Vandercook,  G.  E.,  201,  321 
Van  Ewyk,  Chas.,  119,  122 
Van  Hise,  C.  K.,  26 
Van  Sant,  S.  E.,   444 
Vernon,  B.  C.,  65 
Vilas,  W.  F.,  398 
Vincent,  M.  D.,  31 
Vinje,  A.  J.,  66 
Vogenitz,  J.  C.,  119,  122 
Volstead,  A.  J.,  22 

Wall,  E.  C.,  116 
Wallrich,  M.  J.,  232,  252 
Walsh,  J.  A.,  398 
Warner,  E.  N.,  189,  448 
Wellman,  Walter,  381 
White,  W.  A.,  25,  31 
Wheeler,  W.  G.,  383 


Wilder,  Amos  P.,  265,  293,  297 

387,  418 

Wilder,  Perry  C.,  67,  127,  40? 
Wilkins,  D.  Fred,  433 
Winkler,  F.  C.,  358,  362 
Wink  el,  Fred,  122 
Winslow,  J.  B.,  27 
Wieber,  A.  A.,  122 
Williams,  E.  A.,  172 
Williams,  W.  H.,  49 
Wilson,  Woodrow,   25 
Wiswall,  G.  C.,  273 
Wylie,  George,   220 

Yates,  Richard,  444 

Zentner,  A.  F.,  118,  122 
Zillmer,  Theodore,  117,  118,  122 
Zimmerman,  A.  G.,  79,  177 


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